The sibyls were oracles; Antiquity’s counterparts to the prophets of the Old Testament. By the late Middle Ages the Western church had accepted 12 of the sibyls as prophets announcing the coming of Christ. The Cumaean
Sibyl, which is the subject matter of Domenicino’s painting, reproduced in Antonio Perfetti’s print, is shown seated with a vine in the background. The vine may equally well be related to Bacchus, the god of wine, as to Christ. In art, a sibyl is depicted wearing a turban and holding a book in which her prophecies are recorded.
A dedication is pencilled onto the leaf: ”Offerta di Editore Luigi Bardi al celebra Scultora Torwalsen”. The dedication informs us that the print was a gift from it’s Florentine printer Luigi Bardi (c. 1800 – 1840s) to Thorvaldsen.
