5042B

Sibylla Eritrea

Artist: Follower of Bernardo Bitti (1548-1610) and Sebastián Acostopa Inca
Title: Sibylla Eritrea
Date: 1614 (carving by the follower of Bernardo Bitti) and 1618 (gilt and painting by Sebastián Acostopa)
Medium: Polychrome and gilt wood
Location: Retablo de Nuestra Señora de Copacabana (now Retablo de Santa Teresa de Lisieux), Santuario de Nuestra Señora, Copacabana, Bolivia.
Photo Source: Vila da Vila (2021)
Correspondence Credit: Vila da Vila (2021) and Almerindo Ojeda
Note: Engravings by Crispijn de Passe I, Jacques Granthomme, Thomas de Leu, Pierre Firens, and Pietro Paolo Tossi could have served as sources for this carving. Yet, only the engraving by Firens inscribes the sybil in an oval rather than a circular field (as does the carved image). As to the text surrounding the carved image, only the engravings by Firens, de Leu, and Granthomme include the phrase PRISCA VOCITATA found in the carved image; only the de Leu engraving spells ORYVNDA with the Y found in the carving, and only the de Leu engraving spells SIBILLA rather than SYBILLA (as does the carving). We thus consider the Firens engraving as the source for the iconography and the de Leu engraving as the source for the text of this artwork (both engravings were issued by Jean Leclerc IV under the same title page.
Item: 5042B