The Persian Sybille from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel 1600 - 1649

This drawing of the Persian Sybil from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is anonymous. It presents a figure central to Renaissance thought. During the Renaissance, there was a rediscovery of classical antiquity, and along with it, the rediscovery of ancient texts. Sybils, pagan women who were believed to have prophetic abilities, were popular figures in ancient Greek and Roman culture, and the rediscovery of texts that mentioned them led to an increase in their popularity in Renaissance art. This drawing, kept at Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, holds value as part of the institutional history of the Chapel, of art institutions, and of the Renaissance as a whole. To fully understand such works, we need to do more research into the history of the Catholic Church and the Renaissance to see what was happening at the time the drawing was made. The drawing provides an insight into the way Renaissance artists and patrons viewed the relationship between the Christian and pagan worlds.