The Delphic Sibyl; from the series of Prophets and Sibyls in the Sistine Chapel
Medium
Engraving; first state of four (BLL)
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 22 1/4 × 16 9/16 in. (56.5 × 42 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Goodwin M. Breinin, 1984
Accession Number
1984.1107.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
This engraving by Giorgio Ghisi captures Michelangelo’s majestic Delphic Sibyl, one of the five prophetic women Michelangelo painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 8 and 1512. Created around 1570–75 the print belongs to a celebrated series that translated the frescoes’ monumental figures into a reproducible medium. Ghisi, a skilled Italian engraver active in the late Renaissance, faithfully rendered the Sibyl’s powerful pose and classical drapery, allowing viewers far beyond Rome to study Michelangelo’s vision. The Delphic Sibyl, traditionally associated with the oracle at Delphi, sits...
About the Artist
Giorgio Ghisi|Michelangelo Buonarroti · 1520–1582
Giorgio Ghisi (c. 1520–1582) was one of the most accomplished engravers of the Italian Renaissance, renowned for translating the monumental compositions of Raphael, Giulio Romano, and Michelangelo into the exacting medium of the burin. Born in Mantua, he trained in an environment shaped by the legacy of Giulio Romano's decoration of the Palazzo del Te, and the grandeur of that Mannerist tradition ...