DOMENICHINO
(b. 1581, Bologna, d. 1641, Napoli)

The Cumaean Sibyl

c. 1622
Oil on canvas, 138 x 103 cm
Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome

This painting is considered part of a group of Sibyls that Domenichino executed with the same general composition starting in the mid-1610s. The prototype is the Cumean Sibyl in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

The girl's idealized but highly sensual beauty seems to be reflected in all the luxurious trappings that surround her. Every last detail of the picture is handled with impeccable care which was, indeed, typical of Domenichino. The Emilian painter was openly inspired by Raphael's work, and in particular his St Cecilia in Bologna, but rephrased in a manner suitable for a pagan prophetess rather than a Christian saint, with gold-decorated turban, splendid wrap, and gilded chair.