A Sibyl

This tall, narrow panel was almost certainly never meant to hang on its own. It stands 186 centimetres high and only 87 wide, the shape of a shutter, and it has a companion, a Prophet of exactly the same size. The two may once have opened and closed over the case of an organ. A sibyl was a prophetess of the pagan world whom Christians came to believe had foretold the coming of Christ, which is why she keeps company here with an Old Testament prophet. She stands life-size on rocky ground where a few small plants fade off into a dark background. One detail complicates the whole reading. Curled near her feet is a little Maltese lapdog, the kind a Venetian lady would keep at home, and it has led some scholars to wonder whether these two figures are religious at all, or a pair of elegant classical allegories dressed up as sibyl and prophet. The dark ground gives almost nothing else away.