Phrygian Sibyl
The Phrygian Sibyl is one of those named after Varro , a Roman writer of the 1st century BC. BC , ten sibyls differentiated from lactance , each provided with a geographical epithet .
Other sources from Greek and Roman antiquity contain no references to a sibyl, particularly from regions of Asia Minor, which were then understood to be part of Phrygia . Possibly the naming of a Sibylle as "Phrygian" is generally to be understood as a recognition of the long tradition of honoring a female seerhood in these regions, especially since Phrygia was known as the origin of the cult of the Earth Mother and Great Mother Cybele .
Based on lactance , the Christian Middle Ages and the Renaissance understood the Phrygian Sibyl as a pagan herald of an expectation of God, almost on a par with the prophets .
In Gothic and Renaissance art , the Phrygian Sibyl is usually depicted as one in a series of sibyls, based on Varro, often in contrast to an often equal number of prophets of the Old Testament.
Probably the best-known pictorial representations of Sibyls in the fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel do not include a Phrygian among the women. However, among numerous other representations in Sibylle Cycles, a seeress identified by name as the Phrygian Sibyl is a. a. can be seen in the following locations:
- Ulm , Gothic half-sculpture in the choir stalls of the cathedral, as one of ten sibyls, in the total work of art with numerous ancient scholars and prophets
- Bologna , among eight sibyls by the baroque painter Guercino
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Des Lucius Caelius Firmianus Lactantius writings . Translated from Latin by Aloys Hartl. (Library of the Church Fathers, 1st row, Volume 36) Munich 1919. Chapter 5
- ↑ See z. B. Sibylle , in: PW Hartmann: The large art dictionary . Vienna 1996.
- ↑ See z. BW Stumpfe: Sibyl representation in Italy in the early modern period. About the identity and meaning of a pagan Christian figure. Diss. University of Trier 2005.