Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Samian Sibyl

Francesco Rosselli

Date

c. 1480–90

Medium

Engraving

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

During the Renaissance humanist scholars in Florence were preoccupied with the rediscovery of ancient writings, and artists of the period often drew their subjects from these texts. This print is based on Varro's first-century BCE account of the sibyls. The ancient world had ten sibyls, or prophets, who presided over the Apollonian oracle at the Greek colony of Samos. Because the Catholic Church needed to reconcile the pagan past with Christian beliefs, the Sibyls came to be interpreted as Old Testament prophets who foretold the coming of Christ. Italy, Europe

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