The Libyan Sibyl

This 1868 sculpture of The Libyan Sibyl by William Wetmore Story stands in the Smithsonian Gallery of American Art. Story first modeled the statue in 1861 as a tribute to Sojourner Truth. He carved it in Italian marble in 1868. It was given to the Gallery by Henry Cabot Lodge.

"A sybil was an ancient prophetic priestess who guarded her writings that foretold the future. The emblem on this sybil's necklace is an ancient symbol indicating her mystical powers, though today it is commonly associated with the Jewish Star of David, and with Exodus, and the escape of the Jewish people from slavery. The Libyan Sybil sits contemplating the fate of the African people, after reading the scroll she holds in her left hand. William Wetmore Story conceived this sculpture after the onset of the Civil War, and his letters confirm that he intended it to be a symbolic condemnation of African American slavery: 'She is looking out of her black eyes into futurity and sees the terrible fate of her race. This is the theme of the figure -- Slavery on the horizon.'" -- National Portrait Gallery

 "The Libyan Sibyl, named Phemonoe, was the prophetic priestess presiding over the Oracle of Zeus-Ammon (Zeus represented with the horns of Ammon) at Siwa Oasis in the Libyan Desert.
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The Greeks say she was the daughter of Zeus and Lamia a daughter of Poseidon. Euripides mentions the Libyan Sibyl in the prologue of the Lamia. The Greeks further state that she was the first woman to chant oracles, she lived most of her life in Samos, and that the name Sibyl was given her by the Libyans." -- Wikipedia

Michelangelo painted her this way in  1511 on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Sibila Líbica

A version of this statue appeared in the London Exhibition of 1862 and was illustrated in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

The Sibylla Libyca by Story the Great American Sculptor, A statue exhibited at the International Exhibition in London, 1861 -- From Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper Nov. 1, 1862, Page 93.