''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 Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...

. They show the Carthaginian noblewoman

Sophonisba Sophonisba (in Punic language, Punic, 𐤑𐤐𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋 Ṣap̄anbaʿal) (fl. 206 - 203 BC) was a Carthage, Carthaginian noblewoman who lived during the Second Punic War, and the daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco. She held influence over the N ...

poisoning herself to avoid being paraded in a

Roman triumph The Roman triumph (') was a civil ceremony and 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 service of the state or, in some historical t ...

, the Roman

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals (, 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 from several s ...

Tuccia proving her chastity by carrying water in a sieve,

Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

with the head of Holofernes and

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

holding Sychaeus's funeral urn. Infrared reflectography 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, mon ...

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; , from ''gris'' 'grey') means in general any European painting that is painted in grey. History Giotto used grisaille in the lower registers of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua () and Robert Campin, Jan van Ey ...

and imitate relief sculpture, a style very popular in the

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

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'' 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, 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, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

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 Duke of Rothesay, Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the pr ...

'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 more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

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) 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 Mile stretch of Sherbrooke Street west. The MMFA ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

References

{{Andrea Mantegna Paintings in the National Gallery, London category:1500 paintings category:Paintings by Andrea Mantegna category:Gonzaga art collection Paintings in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Polyptychs Paintings of women Paintings set in ancient Rome