- Today, is the feast of St Agnes of Rome. She lived during Diocletian's reign, & was one of the first virgin martyrs to be widely venerated as a saint, largely due to the promotion of her cult by Ambrose of Milan. According to her legend, she refused to marry. (1/n)
- Agnes' rejected suitors denounced her, & she was placed in a brothel. One suitor sought to assault her & was struck blind. She was later sentenced to death for her faith. Agnes was part of the catalogue of saints that English and German missionaries brought to the Nordic sphere. (2/n)
- Agnes' cult is well attested. Both her feast & its octave is included in Nordic calendars, something which is unusual even for most universal saints. She appears in several late-medieval works of art from the Nordic sphere, often accompanied by the lamb which became her attribute. (3/n)
- The lamb became Agnes' attribute partly because her name sounds like ‘agnus’, 'lamb'. One example is the early C16 wooden sculpture from St Bartholomew’s Church in Salo, Finland, which also shows traces of paint. (Courtesy of Helsinki National Museum item H52105.2; finna.fi) (4/n)Jan 21, 2026 09:47
- The best testament to Agnes’ cult in the Nordic sphere is the Icelandic manuscript Kirkjubæjarbók (AM 429), which is a collection of material on women saints. The book contains a translation of her passio, attributed to Ambrose (ff.61r-69r). (5/n)
- The manuscript also features a full-page illustration of Agnes, but the illuminator has confused the saints & their attributes. While Agnes is shown with a spear (f.60v), it is St Agatha who is depicted with Agnes' characteristic lamb (f.69r). (6/6) - SH
