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The Delphic Sibyl

A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of engraving in black on ivory laid paper.

Date:

early 1570s

Artist:

Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, 1520-1582)
after Michelangelo (Italian, 1475-1564)

About this artwork

Giorgio Ghisi’s detailed reproductions helped make Michelangelo’s frescoes, like Raphael’s, some of the best-known High Renaissance monuments, despite their restricted location. As the Sistine Chapel ceiling was too large to include on one sheet, Ghisi produced a series of oversize engravings of seven prophets and five sibyls. Ghisi’s rendition of the Delphic sibyl in an architectural framework is significantly smaller than the actual painting. The spurious 1540 date at lower right may have been added by the print’s publisher, Nicolas van Aelst, to suggest Ghisi’s images of the chapel appeared earlier than other available reproductions.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Giorgio Ghisi

Title

The Delphic Sibyl

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1565–1575

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 56.6 × 43.2 cm (22 5/16 × 17 1/16 in.); Sheet: 57 × 43.9 cm (22 1/2 × 17 5/16 in.)

Credit Line

The Wallace L. DeWolf and Joseph Brooks Fair Collections

Reference Number

1920.2188

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/80019/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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