Filippino lippi (1457-1504), five sibyls seated in niches: the samian, cumean, hellespontic, phrygian and tiburtine, ca. 1465-1470, oil on poplar panel; collection of christ church, oxford, photographed on display at the legion of honor, san francisco, by steven saylor, january 2024. Prophetesses from classical literature, the sibyls were considered by later christian theologians to have foretold christ's birth, death, and resurrection. Two paintings, each showing five sibyls, were executed by botticelli and filippino lippi, the son of fra filippo lippi, who from 1472 was botticellis pupil and associate. While working in a uniform format, each artist approached his panel with his own individual style. As the senior artist, botticelli was likely responsible for the overall design: a sequence of five draped, seated figures, each framed by a niche separated by a series of candelabra-shaped columns. Their names are inscribed behind them on the corresponding walls, and eleven of their prophecies ("dicta sibillarum") on the advent of christ are strung together into two lengthy texts underneath the figures. Date: circa 1472.
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