1833 Meyer print SYBIL TEMPLE, TIVOLI, LAZIO, ITALY, #18
$ 11.62
Description
1833 Meyer print SYBIL TEMPLE, TIVOLI, LAZIO, ITALY, #18. Latin TIBUR, town and episcopal see, Roma provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. Many wealthy Romans built villas and erected small temples in the vicinity of Tivoli. Hadrian's villa was the largest and most sumptuous imperial villa in the Roman Empire. Universum0118 , 1833 Meyer print SYBIL TEMPLE, TIVOLI, LAZIO, ITALY, #18 Nice print titled Sibyllen-Tempel, Tivoli, from steel engraving with fine detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring, approx. page size is 25 x 17.5 cm, approx. image size is 15 x 10 cm. Print was published in Germany in Meyer's Universum by Bibliographic Institute Hildburghausen. Tiburtine Sibyl The word sibyl comes (via Latin) from the Greek word sibylla, meaning prophetess. The earlier oracular seeresses known as the sibyls of antiquity prophesied at certain holy sites, probably all of pre-Indo-European origin, under the divine influence of a deity, originally one of the chthonic earth-goddesses. Later in antiquity, sibyls wandered from place to place.To the classical sibyls of the Greeks, the Romans added a tenth, the Tiburtine Sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur (modern Tivoli). The mythic meeting of Caesar 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 Cumae is not always clear. The Christian author Lactantius had no hesitation in identifying the sibyl in question as the Tiburtine sibyl, nevertheless. 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." (Divine Institutes I.vi) An apocalyptic pseudo-prophecy exists, attributed to the Tiburtine Sibyl, written ca 380 CE, but with revisions and interpolations added at later dates. It purports to prophesy, after the fact (see vaticinium ex eventu), the arrival of the Christian emperor, Constantine, beginning: Then will arise a king of the Greeks whose name is Constans. He will be king of the Romans and the Greeks. He will be tall of stature, of handsome appearance with shining face, and well put together in all parts of his body... Ippolito d'Este rebuilt the Villa d'Este at Tibur, the modern Tivoli, from 1550 onward, and commissioned elaborate fresco murals in the Villa that celebrate the Tiburtine Sibyl, as prophesying the birth of Christ to the classical world. Tivoli, Latin TIBUR, town and episcopal see, Roma provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It is picturesquely situated on the western slopes of the Sabine Hills, along the Aniene River where it enters the Campagna di Roma, just east of Rome. The site commanded the principal natural route eastward from Rome along the Via Tiburtina Valeria and has been continuously occupied since prehistoric times. Tivoli was originally an independent member of the Latin League (communities that cooperated in political and social matters) and a rival of Rome, but it passed within the Roman orbit in the 4th century BC. The town received Roman citizenship in 90 BC and attained prosperity as a summer resort under the late republic and early empire. The Roman emperor Augustus and the poets Horace, Catullus, and Sextus Propertius were among its sojourners. Many wealthy Romans built villas and erected small temples in the vicinity of Tivoli. After suffering during the barbarian invasions, the town recovered by the 10th century, became an imperial free city, and maintained its autonomy to some degree until 1816. Tivoli is an important landmark in the history of architecture, and its monuments are among the most impressive to survive from antiquity; their excavation since the 16th century played a considerable part in shaping successive generations of classicizing taste. Among the remains of wealthy Roman residences in the immediate neighbourhood, the most important are those of the one that was subsequently acquired by the emperor Hadrian in the 1st century to become the nucleus of his famous villa. Hadrian's villa was the largest and most sumptuous imperial villa in the Roman Empire. It was begun about AD 118 and took about 10 years to build. It lies in a plain below the hill town of Tivoli. The villa contained palaces, libraries, guest quarters, public baths, and two theatres. The remnants of many great brick and concrete structures remain. Among other surviving Roman monuments are two small temples and the great temple of Hercules Victor (Ercole Vincitore) within the town, as well as remains of aqueducts and of the poet Horace's Sabine farm nearby. There are also notable medieval landmarks, including the castle (now a prison) built in 1458-64 by Pope Pius II, and the Villa d'Este, begun in 1550 by Pirro Ligorio for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. The gardens of the Villa d'Este are a magnificent example of Renaissance landscape architecture and are unrivaled in the wealth and fantasy of their fountains. Tivoli's famous waterfalls of the Aniene, 354 feet (108 m) high, have been diminished in volume by hydroelectric projects and other diversions, and indiscriminate building has robbed the old town of much of the charm that made it a favourite resort of artists and travelers during the 18th and 19th centuries.
