The Cumaean Sibyl before Tarquin the Proud

Niccolò dell' Abate

16th century · Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white gouache, on traces of leadpoint or black chalk, on light brown paper · Drawings and Prints

This lively narrative scene is related to a lost fresco cycle for the Palazzo Torfanini in Bologna, which depicted episodes from the life of the last king of Rome, Tarquin the Proud. The scene represents the critical moment when King Tarquin decides to purchase the remaining three volumes of the prophetic books offered him by the Cumaean Sibyl. Six of these volumes are already burning in the foreground, cast onto the flames when the king refused to pay the high price demanded by the sibyl. Although Niccolò left for Fontainebleau in 1552, the decorative works that he carried out in Bologna had a lasting influence on artists of that city.

Artist

Niccolò dell' Abate

Date

16th century

Medium

Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white gouache, on traces of leadpoint or black chalk, on light brown paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Guy Wildenstein Gift, 2002