Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl

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.