The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 18, 2026

A horizontally oriented etching with engraving in black ink on paper depicts a woman pointing toward a woman holding a child nestled in clouds. A kneeling man wearing armor and a leaf crown gazes upward from a rocky cliffside on the right. To the left, a river winds through a wooded landscape past a farmhouse toward distant mountains. Fine lines create deep shadows and textures throughout the scene. Below, the words 'MARCO RVI'.

Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl

1570s

Marco Angolo del Moro

(Italian, c. 1537–d. after 1586)
Italy, 16th century
Etching with engraving on paper
Sheet: 27 x 39.7 cm (10 5/8 x 15 5/8 in.)
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 2018.209
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The story portrayed in this etching was understood as a turning point from paganism to Christianity during the Roman era.

Description

The Roman Emperor Augustus and the Tiburtine Sybil (a Roman prophetess) embrace in a lush landscape. A 12th-century legend told that Augustus consulted the sybil to ask if he should be deified after his death. He received a vision of the Virgin and Child, depicted above, which swayed him away from his pagan beliefs. Del Moro’s effortless blend of narrative and landscape was typical of works by artists from the region around Venice.
  • James Bergquist, Newton, MA
    September 4, 2018
    the Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Meyer, Julius, ed. Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. 3 vols. Leipzig, 1872-1885; Vol 2 p. 41, no. 4, state II/II
    Reed, Sue Welsh, and Richard W. Wallace. Italian Etchers of the Renaissance & Baroque. Boston, Mass: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989. p. 35-37
  • {{cite web|title=Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl|url=false|author=Marco Angolo del Moro|year=1570s|access-date=18 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.209