For the purpose of study, let us begin at the Western door; and commence with
Delphi, famous in ancient times for its Oracles, would not unnaturally suggest itself to these early students of Greek art and literature as one of the places whence prophecies of the Redemption of the World should come. Hence Plutarch calls her the _first_ of the Sibyls. According to Pausanias, the Erythraean Sibyl, although a native of Marpessus, or Erythrae, in the Troad, lived mostly at Samos, and visited Clarus, Delos, and Delphi, at all of which places were shrines dedicated to the Pythian Apollo, whose special gift this form of prophetic utterance was said to be. Later tradition would seem to have divided her attributes into at least three, and given them separate existence. Here she is shown as a stately woman, bearing in her left hand a decorated horn from which issue flames. Her right hand rests on a tablet supported by a winged sphinx, which bears the words:
IPSVM TVVM CO GNOSCE DEVM QVI DEI FILIVS EST
(Know thy God Himself, Who is the Son of God.)
Beneath her feet a label records her name, and the fact that she is mentioned by Chrysippus in his Book of Divination. We find[40] that this figure was executed in 1482 by Giuliano di Biagio and Vito di Marco, who probably also made the design for the work, as the payment they received was 579 lire 10 soldi. We may compare this amount with the sum paid in 1866–69 for the restoration of the same Sibyl. It was 2,341 lire 17 c.
It is not clear why this Sibyl is so named, especially as it provokes confusion with the more celebrated “Sibilla _Cumana_.” Apparently the Cimmerian Sibyl is intended. Ferdinand Piper tells us that she was sometimes styled the Italian Sibyl,[41] and mentions other variations of the name: “Cymea, Chymerea or Chimica.” According to the label, supported behind her by two charming _putti_, she is said to have been mentioned by Piso in his Annals. Here she is represented as an excited-looking woman, with loose hair scattered over her shoulders. She bears in her hand a tablet, with the following words inscribed upon it:
ET MORTIS FATVM FINI ET, TRIVM DIERVM SO MNO SUSCEPTO TUNC AMORTVIS REGRESSVS INLUCEM VENIET PRIM VM RESURRECTIONIS INITIVM OSTENDENS.