The Vestal Virgin Tuccia with a Sieve

Looking around tentatively and taking careful steps with slightly bent knees, a woman walks towards us, holding what at first glance looks like a deep circular tray. If we look more closely we can see that the contents of the vessel are softly rippling. The woman is the Vestal Virgin Tuccia and the object she carries is, in fact, a sieve.Vestal Virgins maintained the fire in the temple of the chaste goddess Vesta in Rome. Their virginity was crucial, but Tuccia’s was challenged. In order to prove it, and knowing that she would have divine assistance, she gathered water from the river Tiber in a sieve and carried it to the temple of Vesta. She predicted – correctly – that none of it would be lost, and that this would prove her virginity to her accusers.This painting was most probably made as a pair to our picture of Sophonisba. Both are painted to imitate bronze relief sculptures set against a pink and white marble background. Tuccia is crowned by an antique style vase filled with lilies – representing virginity – held up by ribbon and swags of foliage.Unlike the figure of Sophonisba, who is portrayed as serene and immobile in celebration of her steadfast and determined character, Tuccia is shown in action, making careful steps to prevent the contents of the sieve from spilling. Mantegna has reinforced the tension and suspense of her journey by showing her robes and veil rippling in the breeze as she advances. He painted Tuccia as though lit from the right, which allowed him to make the most of the limited colours, creating dramatic variations in tone between areas hit by the light and areas cast in shadow. This technique emphasised the three-dimensionality of the figure. Mantegna was showing that he could rival the work of sculptors by imitating their material so brilliantly – and by making the sculpture look as though it was moving.Tuccia was celebrated in the Triumph of Chastity by the fourteenth-century Italian poet, Petrarch. As a virtuous woman from ancient history, she was a popular subject in Renaissance painting. We know that Isabella d‘Este had a ’feigned bronze' picture by Mantegna in her studiolo (study): it is possible that Tuccia was made for that location.