"Such is the magic of this work, that we hesitate to admit to ourselves that time and neglect have after all had their say, and that it has suffered from rehandling and restoration. The picture has been flayed, and the left-hand portion of the design badly damaged; patches of repainting have marred the horizon and sky, the reveller who lifts the jar of wine against the light, the singers beyond the bending faun, and the nearest woman who holds the flute. Damaged portions alternate with exquisite passages of well-preserved painting; the restorations seem for some reason or other to have been very drastic where they have occurred, and the last connecting glazes have been removed; it might therefore be described as 'flayed' ... and also badly damaged in part."