Die vestalische Jungfrau Tuccia mit einem Sieb

The Vestal Virgin Tuccia with a sieve

Pictures of famous or exemplary women of antiquity were sometimes included in domestic decorations, for example in the backboards of chests. These two panels must have come from the same decorative scheme.

They perhaps flanked a window since they are lit from different directions. When Tuccia's chastity was questioned, she proved her innocence by carrying a sieve full of water from the River Tiber to the Temple of Vesta.

The woman drinking is likely to be Sophonisba whose husband sent her poison so that she would be able to commit suicide rather than be taken into slavery. Or she could be Artemisia who, after the death of her husband, drank his ashes mingled with wine.