Sibyls
by MICHELANGELO

On the side walls of the chapel, five prophets alternate with the same number of sibyls, so that each prophet is paired with a sibyl on the opposite wall: the Delphic Sibyl and Joel, Isaiah, and the Erythraean Sibyl, the Cumaean Sibyl and Ezekiel, Daniel and the Persian Sibyl, the Libyan Sibyl, and Jeremiah. This studied parallelism alludes both to the theme of the universality of the message of Redemption and the idea of the perfect concordance of the Revelation in the Judaic world and in the pagan one.

View a slide show of the 7 prophets and 5 sibyls.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
The Delphic Sibyl
1509
Fresco, 350 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

942*960
True Color
147 Kb



The Delphic Sibyl (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

851*1000
True Color
161 Kb



The Delphic Sibyl (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1010*850
True Color
143 Kb



The Erythraean Sibyl
1509
Fresco, 360 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

949*950
True Color
148 Kb



The Erythraean Sibyl (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

870*1050
True Color
121 Kb



Putti
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

646*880
True Color
90 Kb



The Erythraean Sibyl (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

753*1150
True Color
122 Kb



The Cumaean Sibyl
1510
Fresco, 375 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

864*1040
True Color
145 Kb



The Cumaean Sibyl (detail)
1510
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

875*1010
True Color
144 Kb



The Persian Sibyl
1511
Fresco, 400 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

867*1040
True Color
146 Kb



The Libyan Sibyl
1511
Fresco, 395 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

939*944
True Color
142 Kb



The Libyan Sibyl (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

765*1150
True Color
156 Kb




Summary of works by Michelangelo
All genres
Sculptures | Paintings | Sistine Chapel | Drawings | Architecture
Sculptures
-1501 | 1502- | David | Julius II's Tomb | Medici Tomb | Pietŕs
Paintings
Easel paintings | Frescoes in Pauline Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Division of the ceiling | Genesis | Prophets | Sibyls | Ignudi
Spandrels | Lunettes | Triangles | Medallions
Last Judgment
Architecture
until 1530 | after 1530