Saint Agnes
Virgin and Martyr
The earliest surviving witness to her martyrdom and cult is the Depositio Martyrum (354 A.D.). About the same time, a basilica was built over her grave in the Via Nomentana. Her feast was kept in many churches, both East and West, from early times: its occurrence in calendars and martyrologies proves her to be one of the most famous of the early Roman martyrs. Writers who praised her include Saints Ambrose, Damasus, Jerome, and Prudentius.
Her 5th century Acts made her a girl of only thirteen who refused marriage because of her dedication to Christ, who ultimately preferred death to any violation of her consecrated virginity. She was killed by the sword, that is, through her throat being pierced. Round this simple story arose sermons and hymns by Saint Ambrose, early portrayals in Christian antique art, and numerous legendary accretions, such as the blinding of a man who gazed at her nakedness when she was placed in a brothel.
Through the resemblance of her name to agnus (lamb), her principal emblem since the 6th century mosaics at San Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna has been the lamb. On her feast at Rome, lambs are blessed which produce the wool from which pallia for archbishops are woven by the nuns of St. Agnes's convent.
Varied representations of her survive from many centuries, including Renaissance paintings from Duccio to Tintoretto. She also appears frequently in late medieval stained glass, not least in England, where there are also five ancient church dedications. Perhaps her best surviving cycle of paintings of her occurs on a gold and enamel cup, which formerly belonged to the Duke of Berry and passed through the Duke of Bedford to King Henry VI and is now in the British Museum.
Feast Day: January 21