In the rows of figures which Michelangelo painted along the arched
portion of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the prophets are
associated with sibyls. Hence, in the plan of decoration, there comes
first the figure of a man, and then the figure of a woman.

Now, as the Bible contains no allusion to sibyls, it may seem strange
that they should have a place in a series of Bible illustrations, and
especially that they should appear side by side with the prophets. To
explain this, we must learn something about the sibyls.

They were women of ancient times supposed to have supernatural gifts
of foretelling the future. They devoted themselves to solitude and
meditation, and sometimes lived apart in caves or grottoes. Sometimes
they were connected with temples, and delivered what were supposed to
be the messages of the gods to the worshippers. These messages were
called oracles, and were greatly revered by the people who consulted
the gods.

Some of the sibyls' words of wisdom were committed to writing and
passed down to following generations. Though they lived in heathen
countries, the tradition ran that they prophesied the advent of
Christ. There is a passage in one of Virgil's eclogues (the fourth)
upon which the supposition is based. Early in the Christian era, when
men were spreading the new faith, they made much of these sibylline
prophecies to add weight to their teachings.

In former times, fact and fable were very often confused, and people
did not take pains to distinguish the legends of the sibyls from the