Libyan Sybil

First must be conciliation. But these are battles, and they are fought alone. First, the strong ones, then the weak, then the confused. The same passion from each group. The voice of the voice is as a first-generation god in a set of insets. But they are acting on their own. They have to be consulted quickly. And then the whole esoteric being of rebellious waters. They did not blame them—they did not blame them as being evil men. When one of the many obsessive goddesses of the lord, has left another messenger in distant lands, she has been defeated only by the great god, the great goddess of charity. The great gods of humanity have been carnivorous mortals. (From Die Oracula Sybillina; translated from the original Greek language.)

Sybils

There was absolutely no choice. In early February, I simply had to make the pilgrimage to see the Michelangelo exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This was an artistic, and almost a religious, pilgrimage. I was stunned by the entire exhibit. It was hard to believe the large volume of high quality work that Michelangelo produced.

What left the greatest impression on me was his preparatory sketch of the Libyan Sybil. This was eventually incorporated into the Sistine Chapel. This diminutive drawing, just a few inches in height, was used as the primary advertisement image for the exhibit—rightfully so. I decided that I must expand the original Sybil series and incorporate Michelangelo’s five Sybils.

On a dark blue, night sky background, the Sybils are traversing time and space in generating their oracular insights. Their insights emerge from the vast webwork neuronal processes. These Sybils contemplate time and the source of our understandings on a cosmic scale. In the deep background, you will find original Sybil text citations in Greek–barely visible, but perceptible.

All of these pieces are archival quality prints on 24 x 24-inch paper, with the images being 20 x 20 inches. These limited-edition prints were made in 2018.

Sybilline Oracles

The oldest existing published texts of Sybilline oracles appeared in 1902, in Leipzig, Germany. Die Oracula Sybillina was written by Johannes Geffcken. The explanatory text was in German, with the Sybilline oracles in an archaic form of Greek. Selections from the Greek text were used in the background of each of the five Sybil art works. The above text appeared in the Libyan Sybil.

Ancestral Religious Rites is one of my own original art works that was incorporated into the Greek lettering.