Explore the Sibyls about the Twelve prophetic figures of the Pictorial scheme in this artwork, Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Sibyls The Sibyls were prophetic women who were resident at shrines or temples throughout the Classical world. The papal court generally regarded antiquity as setting the stage for Christianity. For example, the Cumaean Sibyl is quoted by 1st-century BC Roman poet Virgil in his Fourth Eclogue as declaring that "a new progeny of Heaven" would bring about a return of the "Golden Age". Many people during the Renaissance interpreted this as foretelling the birth of Jesus.There was an increasing interest in the remains of Rome's pagan past within the Catholic Church; scholars had turned from reading Mediaeval ecclesiastical Latin texts to classical Latin and the philosophies of the Classical world were studied along with the writings of St Augustine. Thus, the presence of five pagan prophets in the Sistine Chapel is not surprising.It is not known why Michelangelo selected the five particular Sibyls that were depicted, given that there were ten possibilities. O'Malley suggests that the four besides the Cumaean Sibyl were selected for a wide geographic coverage, as they come from Africa, Asia, Greece and Ionia.Vasari says of the Erythraean Sibyl: "This figure is extraordinarily beautiful owing to the expression of its face, the arrangement of its hair, and the style of its garments, not to mention its bare arms, which are as beautiful as the rest of the body."
ecclesiastical Latin Sibyl Mediaeval Ionia Sistine Chapel Jesus Rome's pagan past fig classical Latin Erythraean Sibyl angel Renaissance Catholic Church Asia Africa Cumaean Sibyl art Greece Golden Age Virgil Classical Michelangelo St Augustine