history of the prophets. When the Latin hymn "Dies Irae" was written,
the sibyl was mentioned, with the prophet, as predicting the final
destruction of the world. Many painters and sculptors gave the two
equal honor in the same way. In the prevailing opinion, the sibyls
shared with the prophets an inspired foreknowledge of the Christian
faith.

The nine main panels of Michelangelo's ceiling decoration show how man
was created, and how he was tempted and fell into sin. To carry on
still further the story of the human race, the painter shows the
succession of men and women, prophets and sibyls, who, one after
another, predicted the redemption of the world in Christ. On the side
walls, below these figures, the story is carried to completion in a
series of pictures illustrating the life of Christ. The last named
frescoes were painted by various artists some years before
Michelangelo's work on the ceiling.

The number of sibyls was given as ten or twelve, and of these
Michelangelo selected five. His idea here, as with the prophets,
seemed to be to represent some in old age and some in youth.

[Illustration: THE DELPHIC SIBYL. _Sistine Chapel, Rome._]

The Delphic sibyl is the youngest and most beautiful of them all. She
presided over the temple of Apollo in the Greek town of Delphi, where
it was long customary for the priestess, or _pythia_, as she was
called, to be a young woman selected from some family of poor country
people.

The temple at Delphi was one of great celebrity. In the centre was a