The Tiburtine Sibyl , North window ( detail ) , Church of Saint Paul , Irton . Lake District National Park , Cumbria , England


The Tiburtine Sibyl or Albunea was a Roman sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur (modern Tivoli). The mythic meeting of Cæsar Augustus with the Sibyl, of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was a favored motif of Christian artists. Whether the sibyl in question was the Etruscan Sibyl of Tibur or the Greek Sibyl of Cumæ is not always clear. The Christian author Lactantius identified the sibyl in question as the Tiburtine sibyl. He gave a circumstantial account of the pagan sibyls that is useful mostly as a guide to their identifications, as seen by 4th century Christians:- 'The Tiburtine Sibyl, by name Albunea, is worshiped at Tibur as a goddess, near the banks of the Anio, in which stream her image is said to have been found, holding a book in her hand. Her oracular responses the Senate transferred into the capitol'.


Size: 4205px × 4115px
Location: Church of Saint Paul , Irton . Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England, , Europe.
Photo credit: © Stan Pritchard / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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