Cimmerian Sibyl c. 16th century

Editor: Here we have the Cimmerian Sibyl, an engraving by an anonymous artist. It's quite small, and there's something so evocative about the figure's stance, the architectural ruins. How do you interpret this work? Curator: It feels like a whisper from antiquity, doesn’t it? That delicate line work hinting at immense power and knowledge, lost to time. The Sibyl was a prophetess, a figure between worlds, wasn’t she? Editor: Yes, I think so. Curator: And here, she's framed by fragments, literally on the verge of crumbling. It's a melancholic take on the passage of time, or the fragility of memory. What will we leave behind, I wonder? Editor: It is a bit haunting, isn't it? I hadn't thought about memory that way. Curator: Art is a mirror, reflecting back our own anxieties, our own fleeting existence. Makes you want to grab hold of something lasting, doesn’t it?