The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of January 31, 2023

Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl

1570s

Marco Angolo del Moro

(Italian, c. 1537–d. after 1586)

Italy, 16th century

Etching with engraving on paper

Sheet: 27 x 39.7 cm (10 5/8 x 15 5/8 in.)

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 2018.209

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The story portrayed in this etching was understood as a turning point from paganism to Christianity during the Roman era.

Description

The Roman Emperor Augustus and the Tiburtine Sybil (a Roman prophetess) embrace in a lush landscape. A 12th-century legend told that Augustus consulted the sybil to ask if he should be deified after his death. He received a vision of the Virgin and Child, depicted above, which swayed him away from his pagan beliefs. Del Moro’s effortless blend of narrative and landscape was typical of works by artists from the region around Venice.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Imprinted in lower center on recto: “Apud Camocium”

Inscription

Imprinted in lower right on recto: “MARCO A-V-F”

Inscription

In graphite on verso: “3”

Provenance
James Bergquist, Newton, MA
September 4, 2018
the Cleveland Museum of Art
Citations
Meyer, Julius, ed. Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. 3 vols. Leipzig, 1872-1885; Vol 2 p. 41, no. 4, state II/II
Reed, Sue Welsh, and Richard W. Wallace. Italian Etchers of the Renaissance & Baroque. Boston, Mass: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. p. 35-37
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.209