Apollo and Marsyas 1756 - 1757

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo painted 'Apollo and Marsyas'. At its heart, this canvas depicts a contest, one between Apollo, the god of harmony and reason, and Marsyas, the wild, untamed satyr. Look at Apollo. He is adorned with a laurel wreath, a symbol of victory and intellectual prowess since ancient times. His arm is extended in a gesture that has echoed through millennia – a signal of power, direction, and judgment. But isn't it intriguing how this gesture also appears in scenes of pronouncements of doom? Think of the countless depictions of Christ, arms outstretched, either blessing or sentencing. This symbol, passed down through art history, carries the weight of divine authority. In Tiepolo’s hands, the gesture is charged. It speaks to a collective memory, a psychoanalytic trace of humanity's struggle to reconcile the Apollonian with the Dionysian. This cyclical progression continues today, in ways that can be at once familiar and alien.