"Marcantonio Pasqualini (1614–1691) Crowned by Apollo" by Andrea Sacchi Italian c.1641

Religious rules prohibited women from performing in Catholic churches, contributing to the rise of castrati, male sopranos who were castrated before the onset of puberty. Among the most celebrated castrati, Pasqualini is crowned in this portrait by the god Apollo, who had been victorious in a musical contest with the satyr Marsyas (shown in the background, defeated and tied to a tree with his bagpipes beside him). Pasqualini joined the choir of the Sistine Chapel in 1630, and from 1632 was a protagonist in many operas produced at the Palazzo Barberini, for which Sacchi designed sets.