The Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence - 6


Above the entry arch of the chapel is this unusual image: the meeting (or vision) of the Emperor Augustus with the Tiburtine sybil who, according to the Golden Legend, revealed the coming of Christ. The symbol of Christ shines above them. The sybil is a portrait of Sassetti’s daughter, Sibilia. The emperor does not look that impressed.

 

The vault of the chapel has frescoes of four sybils. Helpfully, they carry banners naming themselves; well, three do, the Cumean, Eritrean and Agrippina sybils. Ghirlandaio - or more likely, his workshop, did not name one of them, the one that is upside in the image below. For those that are good at identifying sybils, I've included it below the correct way up.

 

 
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