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Description: | Delphica. 1/2 portrait, facing right, with head turned back to viewer. Long curled mid-brown hair, with left hand reaching for shoulder, while the right hand holds olive branch. Wearing gold and pearl earrings, blue bodice, orange gown, and white shawl. Painted on a plain brown background
"A sibyl, in antiquity, was a woman endowed with the gift of prophecy. By the middle ages the western church had accepted 12 of them as prophets of the coming of Christ. Their attributes are varied. They commonly hold a book, one of the Sibylline books in which their prophecies were recorded. They are mostly represented as young women. The Aberdeen sibyls, 10 of which survive, are not always equipped with the standard attributes (on this occasion a sheathed sword and an olive branch). The attribution to Jamesone is much challenged though he was related to the donor of the works, Principal of King's College, William Guild (1640-51). It is possible that at a time of religious turmoil and Presbyterian ascendancy the donation and display of the paintings form a covert tribute to the institutions Episcopal identity and Stuart loyalty. All the sibyls were heavily restored by Cosmo Alexander in 1761 making attribution problematic."
Author: Morrison,John Date: 2002 Purpose: HA3541
Acquisition source: Guild, William | License: | http://www.abdn.ac.uk/historic/Copyright_terms_conditions.shtml | Publisher: | ABDUA University of Aberdeen, Marischal Museum | Rights holder: | 47718 | Temporal: | 1640-1761 | Source: | University of Aberdeen | Creator: | Attributed to Jamesone, George. Restored by Alexander, Cosmo 1761. | Identifier: | http://calms.abdn.ac.uk/Geology/dserve.e... | Go to resource |
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