They show the Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba poisoning herself to avoid being paraded in a Roman triumph, the Roman Vestal Virgin Tuccia proving her chastity by carrying water in a sieve, Judith with the head of Holofernes and Dido holding Sychaeus's funeral urn.
Sophonisba and Tuccia are egg-tempera on poplar panel, whilst Judith and Dido are glue-tempera on linen canvas.
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.
They were separated into two pairs at a Christie's auction on 13 April 1775, with Tuccia and Sophonisba entering the Duke of Hamilton's collection and Judith and Dido sold to John Taylor.
The two paintings in the Hamilton collection were sold to the National Gallery in London in 1882 when that collection was dispersed,[1] 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 in Canada.