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Copy after Michelangelo’s fresco of the ‘Persian Sibyl’ on the Sistine Chapel vault (Sistine Chapel, Rome, 1511-1512).

Cesari Mariannecci

1867

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century

Dominant colour

Copy after Michelangelo’s fresco of the ‘Persian Sibyl’ on the Sistine Chapel vault (Sistine Chapel, Rome, 1511-1512). is a 1867 watercolor by Cesari Mariannecci, a Impressionism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Cesari Mariannecci
When & what style?: 1867 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This watercolor is a careful copy of Michelangelo’s ‘Persian Sibyl’ from the Sistine Chapel. It was made in 1867 by Cesare Mariannecci. The artist never turned it into a print. The Arundel Society paid him to copy it for others to see. But the plan changed. The group closed in 1897 and later gave the watercolor to the V&A. Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see this piece.

The story of this work

Overview

A watercolour on paperboard by Cesare Mariannecci from 1867, this work reproduces Michelangelo’s *Persian Sibyl* fresco from the Sistine Chapel vault (1511–1512). The composition follows the curved space between the chapel’s fictive ceiling ribs, depicting the aged sibyl seated on a marble throne, her muscular form draped in a green dress, white turban, and pink mantle, reading a red book. Two assistants in orange mantles stand to her right, while a plaque bearing the name "Persicha" identifies the figure. Signed "C. Mariannecci fece. Roma.1867" in the lower right, the work was commissioned…

Read the full account in the museum source.