Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl (1570s): Art, History and Details

Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl (1570s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Marco Angolo del Moro (Italian, c. 1537–d. after 1586).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Roman Emperor Augustus and the Tiburtine Sybil (a Roman prophetess) embrace in a lush landscape. A 12th-century legend told that Augustus consulted the sybil to ask if he should be deified after his death. He received a vision of the Virgin and Child, depicted above, which swayed him away from his pagan beliefs. Del Moro’s effortless blend of narrative and landscape was typical of works by artists from the region around Venice.

Object facts

• Title: Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl
• Date: 1570s
• Creator attribution: Marco Angolo del Moro (Italian, c. 1537–d. after 1586)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: Etching with engraving on paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 27 x 39.7 cm (10 5/8 x 15 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Prints
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2018.209

A detail from the museum

The story portrayed in this etching was understood as a turning point from paganism to Christianity during the Roman era.

Collection credit

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Meyer, Julius, ed. Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. 3 vols. Leipzig, 1872-1885; Vol 2
• Reed, Sue Welsh, and Richard W. Wallace. Italian Etchers of the Renaissance & Baroque. Boston, Mass: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.