Flaying is a method of slow and painful execution in which skin is removed from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact.
Michelangelo's The Last Judgment - St Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin; it is conjectured that Michelangelo included a self-portrait depicting himself as St Bartholomew after he had been flayed alive.
Assyrians flaying their prisoners alive
Shield showing three flaying knives, symbol of Bartholomew the Apostle
Apollo flaying Marsyas by Antonio Corradini (1658–1752), Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Skinning is the act of skin removal. The process is done by humans to animals, mainly as a means to prepare the meat beneath for cooking and consumption, or to harvest the skin for making fur clothing or tanning it to make leather. The skin may also be used as a trophy or taxidermy, sold on the fur market, or, in the case of a declared pest, used as proof of kill to obtain a bounty from a government health, agricultural, or game agency.
A Kalanga man skinning a goat at the annual Domboshaba cultural festival 2017 in Botswana
Freeing the hide from a rabbit carcass while open skinning
