Page:Cyclopedia of painters and paintings (IA cyclopediaofpain04cham).pdf/198
- hagen Gallery; Cattle Pasture, Old Pinakothek,
Munich.—Ch. Blanc, École flamande; Gaz. des B. Arts (1872), vi. 497; Rooses (Reber), 412; Van den Branden, 1064.
SIBYL, the name applied to reputed
prophetesses of the mythical period, some
of whom are said to have foretold the coming
of Christ to the Gentiles. There are
ten or more of them, and they are generally
named from their habitations; as, Cimmerian,
from the Black Sea; Cumæan, from Cumæ
in Campania; Delphian, from Delphi; Erythræan,
from Erythræa in Asia Minor; Hellespontian
(sometimes called Trojan), from
the Hellespont; Libyan, from Libya; Persian,
from Persia; Phrygian, from Phrygia;
Samian, from Samos; Tiburtine, from Tibur
(Tivoli). They do not appear in art earlier
than the fourteenth century.
SIBYL, CUMÆAN, Domenichino, Palazzo
Borghese, Rome. Wears an immense turban,
eyes raised and mouth open. Head
and draperies well drawn and coloured. In
respect to accessories superior to the repetitions
at the Capitol and in the Modena Museum.
Engraved by P. Fontana.—Lavice,
335, 354; Viardot, 239.
By Guido Reni, Uffizi, Florence; canvas, half-figure. Eyes raised, and resting her chin on one hand; she holds in the other a paper, on which is written her prediction of Christ's advent—"Nascetur de Virgine." Other Cumæan Sibyls by Guido are in the Brussels and Vienna Museums, the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, and the Palazzo Brignole Sale, Genoa.—Soc. Ed. et Paris, Pl. 177; Lavice, 47.
By Elihu Vedder, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass. She is hurrying along, her garments blown by the wind swinging before her, in the centre of a landscape with a range of mountains resembling the Abruzzi in the distance.
SIBYL, PERSIAN, Guercino, Capitol Gallery,
Rome; half-figure. She leans her head
on the back of one hand and holds a pen in
the other. An open book lies before her.
Colour, drapery, and effect of light excellent;
one of the master's best pictures. Engraved
by Ant. Perfetti; A. Cunego; J. V. Kauperz;
P. Fontana; Gio. Berselli.—Lavice, 331.
SIBYL, SAMIAN, Guercino, Uffizi, Florence;
canvas, H. 3 ft. 7 in. × 2 ft. 11 in.
Standing, half-length, with her hands on an
open book. She wears a picturesque turban
and bands of pearls in her hair. Painted in
1651 for Mattia de' Medici; bought in 1777
for Gallery. Engraved by Ant. Perfetti;
Levillain; J. Rivera.—Molini, Gal. di Firenze,
ii. 125; Soc. Ed., Gal. di Firenze, Pl. 133;
Wicar, i., Part 3; Lavice, 33.
SIBYL, TIBURTINE, Garofalo, Palazzo
Pitti, Florence; wood, H. 2 ft. × 1 ft. 3 in.
The Sibyl revealing to the Emperor Augustus
the Mystery of the Incarnation. She is
standing pointing with one hand to the Virgin
and Child, who, with two angels, are
seen above; Augustus is kneeling, with his
crown on the earth beside him.
Subject treated also by Paris Bordone, Venice Academy.
SIBYL, ZAMBETHA (Sambetha), Hans
Memling, Hospital of St. John, Bruges;
wood, H. 1 ft. 3 in. × 10 in. A bust portrait
of a Flemish damsel, in the high peaked cap
of the close of the 15th century. Supposed
to be the portrait of one of the daughters
of William Moreel, a patrician of Bruges,
whose portrait and that of his wife, now
in the Brussels Museum, were painted by
Memling in the same year, 1480.—C. & C.,
Flemish Painters, 276; Beffroi, ii. 182.
SIBYLLA PALMIFERA (Sibyl with the
Palm), Dante Gabriel Rossetti, George
Rae, Birkenhead, England; canvas, life-size,
three-quarter length. Illustrative of Rossetti's
sonnet of same title. Seated figure
of a virgin, in crimson dress, with green
scarf over her hair, holding a palm before
the shrine of worship; beside her burns a
lamp, its flame rising toward a rose garland
hanging near the sculptured head of a cherub;
on the other side smoke ascends from
a thurible in circles towards a death's head,
over which is a wreath of poppies; above,
a festoon of olive boughs and a sphinx in