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Giorgio Ghisi

The Eritrean Sibyl

c. 1570
Engraving on ivory laid paper
57.2 × 43.6 cm (22.5 × 17.2 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 engraved six of the twelve prophets and sibyls from the pendentives of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco almost 60 years after its completion. This prophetess, a priestess of Apollo in ancient Greece, was included as part of the Sistine cycle because she was said to have prophesied the coming of the Redemption through Christ. (The presence of Michelangelo’s nude staffage figures elicited a later, censored state of the print with fig leaves.)

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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 Delphic SibylThe Delphic SibylThe NativityThe NativityThe Vision of EzekielThe Vision of EzekielThe Crucifixion with the Virgin, the Magdalen, and St. JohnThe Crucifixion with the Virgin, the Magdalen, and St. John

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