Sibyl

In 1617 Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, paid Domenichino for this picture, and he probably suggested what it shows. Sibyls, the prophetesses of the ancient world, usually appear with books or scrolls. This one has a viola da gamba beside her and a score unrolling under her hand. Scipione was known for his musical interests, and he owned a treatise on sibyls. The museum links the notes to Girolamo Giacobbi, a Bolognese composer the painter knew, and her parted lips may mean she is singing. The laurel over her head was sacred to Apollo, god of the arts. It also points to the Delphic Sibyl, who was said to chew laurel leaves before she prophesied, which is why the museum now reads her as Delphic, though she was long known as the Cumaean Sibyl.