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Giorgio Ghisi

The Delphic Sibyl

early 1570s
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
56.6 × 43.2 cm (22.3 × 17 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Giorgio Ghisi’s detailed reproductions helped make Michelangelo’s frescoes, like Raphael’s, some of the best-known High Renaissance monuments, despite their restricted location. As the Sistine Chapel ceiling was too large to include on one sheet, Ghisi produced a series of oversize engravings of seven prophets and five sibyls. Ghisi’s rendition of the Delphic sibyl in an architectural framework is significantly smaller than the actual painting. The spurious 1540 date at lower right may have been added by the print’s publisher, Nicolas van Aelst, to suggest Ghisi’s images of the chapel appeared earlier than other available reproductions.

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More by Giorgio Ghisi

The Fall of Troy and the Escape of AeneasThe Fall of Troy and the Escape of AeneasThe Death of ProcrisThe Death of ProcrisAllegory of LifeAllegory of LifeThe TrinityThe TrinityThe NativityThe NativityThe Vision of EzekielThe Vision of EzekielThe Eritrean SibylThe Eritrean SibylThe Crucifixion with the Virgin, the Magdalen, and St. JohnThe Crucifixion with the Virgin, the Magdalen, and St. John

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