This tapestry weaves a wild tale. 🧵 Based on Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” it shows the gruesome moment when the half-man, half-goat Marsyas loses a musical contest to Apollo and is skinned alive as punishment. The bees at the bottom symbolize the family of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, who founded the Barberini Tapestry Workshop in Rome, Italy. From 1648-1679, it was directed by a group of women from the della Riviera family, and was at least once referred to as the “arrazo delle donne” (women’s tap

Four things to remember