Note on Art

Note on Art

A note from LeRoy Neiman on a tapestry, featuring Tiburtine Sibyl, collected by the Met Museum.

This note from LeRoy Neiman concerns an unattributed tapestry, Coronation of the Virgin, depicting the prophetic figure Tiburtine Sibyl, collected by the Met Museum. In the document, Neiman has written a brief history of Sibyl, singling her out as “(1) [a woman] of antiquity reputed to possess powers of prophecy or divination” and “(2) a female prophet or witch.” That said, he fails to connect this description of the preternatural back to the piece. Neiman lived and worked just across the park from the museum at his live-in studio in Hotel Des Artists, and most likely saw the work there on one of his many visits.

LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman Foundation

LeRoy Neiman Foundation

c. 1990-2011

LeRoy Neiman

Property of the LeRoy Neiman Foundation; please consult the organization's archivist for further details.

Notes

Image/jpeg

English

Document

LN_Notes_1357

New York (N.Y.) New York

Met. Mus of Art
Tiburtine Sibyl
Tapestry Southern Netherlands 1500-1515
title – CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN
A very elegant figure on the lower left.
Sibyl
(1) Women of antiquity reputed to posses powers of prophecy or divination
(2) A female prophet or witch 1250-1300[;] seer – prophetess, oracle, (soothsayer A PERSON WHO CLAIMS TO FORTEL EVENTS)
John Springer
April 8

Felt-tipped pen and pencil on paper.