In the background is a rural scene with a city or castle, a three-arch bridge, trees typical of Perugino, hills and a river.

The two nude figures in the foreground allude to that in ancient Greek and Roman art - this and the other classical references demonstrate how the work is intended to be decoded by the humanist classical elite of Florence.

The standing contrapposto figure is the god Apollo, carrying a baton in his left hand and with a bow and quiver behind him.

The identity of the seated flute-playing figure on the left is debated - it may be Marsyas,[2] but that character is usually depicted as a satyr and so it may instead by Daphnis, a young shepherd who died of love for Apollo.

Daphnis is the Greek form of the name Laurus, possibly linking the work to Lorenzo de' Medici.