Who painted A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll?

A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll was painted by Luca Cambiaso in 1554.

Where can I see A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll?

A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll?

A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll is associated with Renaissance.

Artwork

A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll

Luca Cambiaso , 1554

A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll is an ink drawing by the Renaissance artist Luca Cambiaso. It dates from 1554 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Luca Cambiaso’s drawing entitled *A Standing Sibyl with a Scroll* dates from around 1554. Executed with pen and brown ink on laid paper, the work is a single‑figure study that measures roughly a sheet of standard Renaissance drawing paper. It belongs to the artist’s corpus of quick, preparatory sketches, illustrating his interest in gestural line and compositional planning.

Subject & Meaning

The composition presents a solitary, robed woman turned in profile, her left hand grasping a scroll that suggests a prophetic or scholarly role. The figure is identified as a sibyl, a classical seer whose presence in Christian art often symbolizes divine revelation. The scroll reinforces this association, hinting at the transmission of hidden knowledge.

Technique & Style

Cambiaso employs swift, fluid strokes to render the drapery’s folds and the cascade of hair, allowing the line to suggest volume without extensive modeling.

Cambiaso employs swift, fluid strokes to render the drapery’s folds and the cascade of hair, allowing the line to suggest volume without extensive modeling. Areas of denser ink create localized darkness, giving the impression of depth through tonal variation rather than cross‑hatching. The overall approach reflects a spontaneous, almost improvisational drawing method typical of mid‑sixteenth‑century Italian workshops.

History & Provenance

The drawing is attributed to Cambiaso’s mature period, when he was active in Genoa and known for both large frescoes and smaller studies. Though the work’s early ownership is undocumented, it entered a private collection in the 19th century before being acquired by a museum specializing in Renaissance drawings, where it remains catalogued as a representative example of Cambiaso’s draftsmanship.