The 50 plates / Plate 46 of 50
Plate 46 of 50
Head of a Sibyl
Sybillenkopf
Guercino
Not yet located
The drawing
A delicate head-and-shoulders study of a young woman identified as a sibyl, one of the ancient prophetesses. Her face turns slightly to the viewer's right, with an attentive, contemplative expression. An elaborate turban-like headdress, tied in a large knot above her forehead, extends dramatically to either side. Fine parallel strokes and crosshatching define the folds of fabric, facial features, and shadows, while the shoulders remain only lightly indicated.
Becker, 1922
As Felix Becker published it in 1922.
- Attribution
- Guercino
- Title as printed
- Sybillenkopf
- Title in English
- Head of a Sibyl
- Medium and size
- Pen and ink with yellowish washes, 26 × 28 cm
- Inscription
- Unsigned
- Collection in 1922
- Ducal collection, Schloss Dessau
Today
Modern cataloguing and the drawing’s whereabouts, as far as they are known.
- Status
- Not yet located
- Where is it now?
- Not yet located. No post-Becker museum or auction record has been securely identified with this drawing.
- Attribution today
- Guercino, as attributed by Becker. Although Guercino produced numerous representations of sibyls, no independent modern attribution of this exact drawing has been established.
The sheet in this copy
Sources
- Felix Becker, Handzeichnungen alter Meister in Privatsammlungen (Leipzig, 1922), plate 46.
- No later museum or auction record has been securely identified with this drawing so far.