Woman in an orange dress, seen almost from behind with arms raised, holding an open book and looking down

The Libyan Sibyl

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What you see

Seen almost from behind, the sibyl holds a large open book with her arms raised, turning her head to look down over her shoulder. Her body forms a spiral that rises from her feet to her hands. On the left are two children, one with a rolled scroll under his arm. Below, a plaque reads “LIBICA.”

The colors are bright: orange, yellow and lilac in her dress, green in the cloth on the throne and a white band woven with a braid in her hair. Her back and shoulders are strong, the muscles clearly defined. Look for the foot resting only on its toes at the edge of a block, and the reliefs of children on the pillars, painted to look like stone.

About Michelangelo

Michelangelo Buonarroti saw himself above all as a sculptor, but the pope asked him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He worked for four years on scaffolding, painting hundreds of giant figures above his head. He was also an architect and a poet, and lived to be almost 89.

All 10 works by Michelangelo