Evaluating a Cumaean Sibyl: Domenichino or later? A multi analytical approach

The detection of Prussian blue (synthesized in 1704 and widely used as artist's pigment after 1750) was decisive in establishing the work's authenticity for, as such, it cannot be attributed either to Domenico Zampieri (1581-1641) or to his apprentices. In addition, the identification of Naples yellow, which prevailed in the period from 1750 to 1850, supports this statement. Nevertheless, its elaborate painting technique strongly suggests an artist greatly influenced by the Renaissance masters. A comparison of its stylistic features with those of the Cumaean Sibyl of Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807), a prolific 18th century artist known to have studied and to have copied Domenichino's Sibyl, reveals significant similarities between the two in composition and palette. The unsigned Sibyl, therefore, could well be by Kauffmann.