''Exemplary Women of Antiquity'' is a set of paintings produced between 1495 and 1500 by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...

. They show the Carthaginian noblewoman

Sophonisba Sophonisba (in Punic, 𐤑𐤐𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋 Ṣap̄anbaʿal) (fl. 203 BC) was a Carthaginian noblewoman who lived during the Second Punic War, and the daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco. She held influence over the Numidian political landscape, conv ...

poisoning herself to avoid being paraded in a

Roman triumph The Roman triumph (') was a civil religion, civil ceremony and Religion in ancient Rome, religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the success of a military commander who had led Roman forces to victory in the servi ...

, the Roman

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...

Tuccia Tuccia (3rd-century BC ), was an ancient Roman Vestal Virgin. She is known for an incident in which her chastity was questioned by a spurious accusation. In Tuccia's case, she utilized a flat perforated basket to carry water, without the water fal ...

proving her chastity by carrying water in a sieve, Judith with the head of

Holofernes In the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, Holofernes ( grc, Ὀλοφέρνης; he, הולופרנס) was an invading Assyrian general known for having been beheaded by Judith, a Hebrew widow who entered his camp and beheaded him while he was ...

and

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

holding

Sychaeus Acerbas was a Tyrian priest of Hercules (that is, Melqart, the Tyrian Hercules), who married Elissa, the daughter of king Mattan I, and sister of Pygmalion. He was possessed of considerable wealth, which, knowing the avarice of Pygmalion, wh ...

's funeral urn.

Infrared reflectography Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

has uncovered a signature on the back of ''Judith'' reading ''And.a Mantegnia. .'' (Andrea Mantegna painted t. ''Sophonisba'' and ''Tuccia'' are egg-tempera on poplar panel, whilst ''Judith'' and ''Dido'' are glue-tempera on linen canvas. All four works are in

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochrom ...

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

and imitate relief sculpture, a style very popular in the

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

n court at the time thanks to the expense of importing marble from neighbouring Italian states and the lack of sculptors at court. Another example was the same artist's ''

The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome ''The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome'' is a glue-tempera on canvas painting measuring 73.5 cm by 268 cm. It was produced in 1505–1506 by Andrea Mantegna and is now in the National Gallery in London. Like much of Mantegna's output aft ...

'' from around the same times. ''Tuccia'' and ''Sophonisba'' originally had the same dimensions.

History

All four were attested in the inventory of the belongings of

Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua Federico II of Gonzaga (17 May 1500 – 28 August 1540) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua (first as Marquis, later as Duke) from 1519 until his death. He was also Marquis of Montferrat from 1536. Biography Federico was son of Francesco ...

, produced in 1542 two years after his death. In 1738 they were next mentioned in an inventory of marshal Schulenburg's collection, though sometimes the paintings are mentioned with dimensions that do not match the current dimensions of any of the four works. They were separated into two pairs at a

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

auction on 13 April 1775, with ''Tuccia'' and ''Sophonisba'' entering the

Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...

's collection and ''Judith'' and ''Dido'' sold to John Taylor. The two paintings in the Hamilton collection were sold to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

in London in 1882 when that collection was dispersed, whilst those originally bought by Taylor were sold in 1912 and after a couple of changes of ownership entered the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

References

{{Andrea Mantegna category:Collections of the National Gallery, London category:1500 paintings category:Paintings by Andrea Mantegna category:Gonzaga art collection Paintings in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts