Old Italian Masters: The Cumaean Sibyl

1888–92

Old Italian Masters: The Cumaean Sibyl, 1888–92. Timothy Cole (American, 1852–1931), after Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564). Wood engraving; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Walter H. Merriam 1932.599 In the 1800s many artists were inspired by the Italian Renaissance, seeing in it the clarity and classical ideals they valued. Timothy Cole traveled to Europe in 1883 for a commission to engrave images after Italian Renaissance works for an audience in the United States. This wood engraving reproduces one of Michelangelo’s monumental sibyls from the Sistine Chapel ceiling.