Lot 220 depicts Theseus being handed a ball of string by Ariadne, before departing for Crete where he was to face the Minotaur, which dwelt in an elaborate labyrinth.  The purpose of the string was of course to enable Theseus to navigate his way through the labyrinth and more importantly, to find his way out again.

The subject of the present work is less easy to interpret, though the presence of the ball of string on the floor would once again suggest that the seated figure is Theseus.  It seems likely that if this is indeed the case the slayed centaur, who lies at Theseus' feet, is Bianor, who had a fatal altercation with the Greek warrior during the Battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs.

Какие лапифы, где лапифы?..
Присмотритесь к ногам несчастной жертвы молодчика и его сообщницы на первой картинке.
Он - парнокопытный.
А настоящие кентавры - нет.
Это Минотавр, ребятушки.
Таким его изображали в Средние века и даже в эпоху Ренессанса. Вернер - знал. А эксперты Сотбис - не знают.

Для Фанечки...

Марсий и Аполлон. Гравюра 1671 по Джулио Романо

Bacchus and Ariadne