Tiburtine Sibyl
The Tiburtian Sibyl is one of the under Lactantius, distinct from the Roman writer Varro ten Sibyls, each provided with a geographic epithet. It was in the western Middle Ages one of the most well-known interpretations of pagan seers.
The nickname of the Sibyl at Tibur is (now Tivoli) suggest, a town near Rome. However, there is in Greek and Roman sources of antiquity hardly a direct indication of a Sibylle special about this place. Lactantius gives this Sibyl of Tibur another nickname, Albunea. This can be interpreted in a in ancient times also worshiped at Tibur for oracle nymph of that name, or generally as an indication of the sources there long known as Albulae Aqua.
Today you can find in Tibur a temple district, with its Roman circular temple of the Vestals at the falls of the Anio today traditionally regarded as sanctuary ( temenos ) of a Tiburtinischen Sibylle applies (Italian Tempio della Sibilla today e di Vesta ).
Like all Sibyls emerged from myth and legend of the ancient world, the Tiburtian Sibyl. Nevertheless, the figure of the medieval Tiburtinischen Sibylle with the seers and the Sibylline books of ancient times has only the name and some characteristics in common ..
In the Middle Ages it was known as Tiburtian Sibylle " vornehmeste prophetess " next to the Sibyl of Erythrai with scholars and people in one of the most famous pagan prophetic seers, because she had the legend inspired the Christian pagan emperor Augustus interpreted dream a vision.
According to this legend the courtiers wanted to worship the emperor Augustus as a god. This was because to him it was uncomfortable, the Sibyl of Tibur come the same day as the birth of Jesus Christ, a phenomenon showed him in the sky, a beautiful woman with child, who sat on an altar. The Sibyl told the emperor that this child was greater than he. The Emperor then fell to his knees and worshiped the child.
The legend is as the founding legend of the Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli known and can be found in the Legenda aurea first described. As a " vision of Augustus and the Sibyl " she was very popular due to their frequent pictorial representations in churches until the late Middle Ages and found its way into the numerous healing mirror and vernacular chronicles.
Other previous interpretations of the figure of the Sibyl Tiburtinischen are common in the 11th century under their Latin names Sibylla Tiburtina texts with political prophecies. This pretended to predict the role of the empire in an expected apocalyptic doomsday.
During the Renaissance, the prophetic expectation of God all Sibyls was rather general highlighted, as a group of sighted women. However, there is for example in the Raphael's Rooms is a smaller representation of their legend of the vision of Augustus.
In the art of Gothic and Renaissance are often presented a series of Sibyls in accordance with the Listing by Varro, often together with an equal number of times prophets of the Old Testament, including one often identifiable as '' '' Tiburtian Sibyl prophetess, so z. B. Ulm Gothic half - sculpture in the choir of the cathedral, as one of ten Sibyls, the total work of art with numerous ancient scholars and prophets.
As a single representation in connection with the interpretation of the vision of Augustus it is particularly seen in the late Gothic period, such as
- On Bladelin altar of the painter Rogier van der Weyden
- To the Bordesholmer altar by the sculptor Hans Brüggemann
- On the board of the glorification of Mary Master of the Glorification of Mary
In the well -known pictorial representation of Sibyls in Renaissance fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, it is not included.