Two seated male figures personifying Astronomy and Philosophy

These two monumental figures are directly modelled on designs by the two Renaissance geniuses, Raphael and Michelangelo. Astronomy assumes the same twisting pose, though in reverse, as Raphael's Tiburtine Sibyl in the church of Santa Maria della Pace, Rome, which was frescoed for Agostino Chigi in 1514. The figures' blue and yellow draperies are the same, though here the artist has substituted the green skirt of Raphael's Sibyl with a red one. Philosophy, on the other hand, derives from Michelangelo's colossal marble statue of Moses, which dates from around the same moment (c. 1513-15). That figure was created for one of Michelangelo's most challenging and complex commissions, the tomb of Pope Julius II, and is today located in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome. Although reversed from the original, the figure here also adopts a dynamic contrapposto pose, with its limbs arranged in the same position as those of Moses, and with details – such as the hands interlacing the beard – faithfully replicated.

We are very grateful to Prof. David Ekserdjian for pointing out the connection between Raphael's Sibyl and Astronomy.