Tiburtine Sibyl and the Emperor Augustus
c. 1527–30/31
Medium
chiaroscuro woodcut (in brown-green and black)
Dimensions
{"sheet":{"height":0.341,"width":0.259}}
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1923.115
Tags
About this artwork
This print depicts the Roman Emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BC–AD 14) and the Tiburtine Sybil, one of several women that Apollo bestowed with prophetic powers. Augustus was deciding whether or not to accept apotheosis (recognition of the emperor as a god after death) and asked the Tiburtine Sybil for advice. At the moment the two met on the Capitoline Hill, the Madonna and Christ the Child appeared before them, revealing the coming of the child as the one who would have surpassed Augustus in rulin...