This painting, by the Austrian artist Hans Canon (1829–1885), depicts a Sibylle (also spelled Sibyl) from the history and folklore of ancient Rome. Similar in nature to the oracular Greek priestesses who operated in Delphi, the Sibyls of ancient Italy were a group of prophetic women whose numbers varied between 1 and 12. They were often particularly erratic and flamboyant in their behavior, and were prone to uttering barrages of cryptic messages from the beyond while contorting in exaggerated body gestures. Sibyls made appearances in Roman origin myths, such as the story of the Trojan refugee, Aeneas (allegedly an ancestor of Rome’s founders), who traveled with the Cumaean Sibyl into the underworld. A living Sibyl was also said to have been active during the Roman kingdom era, and a collection of sayings and prophecies written by the Sibyls was allegedly sold to the Roman government by the time of Rome’s last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (r. 534-509 BCE). Rome’s compiled collection of cryptic and poetic riddles was called the Sibylline Books, and the text, which was treated with great respect, was placed under guard in Rome’s main temple of Jupiter. The prophetic contents of the Sibylline Books were often perused by the Romans in times of great crisis. During rough wars, political turmoil, times of plague, and other similar devastating events, the Romans would pull out the Books and search its pages for advice and direction. Curiously, little is known about what was actually written in the Sibylline Books, as the Sibylline prophecies were rarely quoted by ancient authors. Nevertheless, whatever the pages contained, they remained safe in their guarded temple until they were evidently heavily damaged by fire in 83 BCE, during the time of the dictator, Sulla. Despite the damaged state of the Sibylline Books, Romans continued to consult the remnants for centuries more, until whatever remained of the Sibylline writings was completely destroyed by General Flavius Stilicho around 407 CE.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The Aeneid by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 2006.
- The History of Rome by Livy, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sibyl-Greek-legendary-figure
- https://sammlung.belvedere.at/objects/854/sibylle
