Sibyl and Prophet

Sibyl and Prophet
ArtistAndrea Mantegna
Yearc. 1495
Mediumdistemper and gold on canvas
Dimensions56.2 cm × 48.6 cm (22.1 in × 19.1 in)
LocationCincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati

Sibyl and Prophet is a grisaille distemper painting by Andrea Mantegna c. 1495. It is now in the Cincinnati Art Museum.[1]

History

Mantegna produced several grisailles in the last eleven years of his life; this style imitated relief sculpture and was then popular in the Mantuan court due to the duchy's lack of major sculptors and stone quarries. Possibly a fragment from a larger work, it was probably a commission by Isabella d'Este for her apartments and shows a sibyl in a crown and toga debating with a bearded Old Testament prophet who holds the scroll they are discussing.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Catalogue entry".
  2. ^ (in Italian) Tatjana Pauli, Mantegna, Leonardo Arte, Milano, 2001. ISBN 9788883101878