The temple at Delphi was one of great celebrity.  In the centre was a small opening in the ground, whence arose an intoxicating vapor, and over this sat the pythia, on a three-legged seat, or tripod, and delivered the oracle communicated to her by the god.  These oracles were delivered in verse.

The Delphic sibyl, or pythia, of Michelangelo’s picture, has the splendid stature of an Amazon.  Her head is draped with a sort of Greek turban, beneath which her hair escapes in flying curls.  Her face and expression show her at once to be unlike an ordinary woman.  She has the look of a startled fawn, which has suddenly heard the call of a distant voice.  She turns her head in the attitude of one listening.  She looks far away with eyes that see visions, but what those visions are none can guess.  There are other pictures of the same sibyl carrying a crown of thorns, showing that she predicted the sufferings of Christ.  Perhaps this is the meaning of the sorrowful expression in these wide eyes.

The scroll which she unrolls in her left hand is the scroll of her prophecy.  The two little figures holding a book, just behind her right shoulder, are genii, or spirits, symbolic of her inspiration.  One reads eagerly from the volume while the other listens with rapt attention.

The picture makes a very interesting study in the composition of lines.  Starting from the topmost point of the turban, draw a line on the right, coming across the shoulder along the outer edge of the drapery to the toe.  On the left, let the line connecting the same two points follow the outer curve of the scroll, along the slanting edge of the mantle, and we get a beautiful pointed oval as the basis of the composition.

The sibyl’s left arm drops a curve across the upper part of the figure, and this curve is repeated a little lower down by the creases in the drapery across the lap.  Such are the few strong, simple lines which compose the picture, producing an effect of grandeur which a confusion of many lines would entirely spoil.

XII

THE CUMAEAN SIBYL

Of all the sibyls, the one we hear most about is the Cumaean.  The legend runs that, having asked a boon of Apollo, she gathered a handful of sand and said, “Grant me to see as many birthdays as there are sand grains in my hand.”  The wish was gratified, but unluckily she forgot to ask for enduring youth, so she was doomed to live a thousand years in a withered old age.  Thus we always think of her as an old woman, as Michelangelo has represented her.

She is called the Cumaean sibyl because she is supposed to have lived in Cumae, which was the oldest and one of the most important of the Greek colonies in Italy.  Her real name, we are told, was Demos.  She lived in a great cavern, where the people came to consult her, and her answers to their questions were regarded as oracles, or answers from the deities.  She used to write on the leaves of trees the names and fates of different persons, arranging them in her cave to be read by her votaries.  Sometimes the wind sweeping through the cavern scattered the leaves broadcast through the world.