Sibyl Reading

Bartolomeo Coriolano was one of only a few chiaroscuro practitioners in the seventeenth century. Presumably around 1621, Coriolano joined the study of Guido Reni and worked with him first in Bologna and later in Rome. Their collaborative output reached its height between 1637 and 1642, with Coriolano producing prints after Reni’s designs, and both artists assuming the role of publisher for various printed states. “Sibyl Reading” is one of Coriolano’s chiaroscuro woodcuts based on a design by Reni. Examining the tablet in her left hand, the woman traditionally identified as the legendary Greek prophetess Sybil, sits in profile with a quill and inkwell beside her. The print comprises two blocks: a green tone block and a black key block.