Capital Virgins

The four capital virgins, Latin: (quattuor) virgines capitales, are a group of virgin martyrs of the early church.

Occasionally, instead of the classical formation, St. Ursula is pictured instead of Saint Dorothea.

Alternatively, Saint Dorothea is depicted with the attribute of Saint Ursula, an arrow, in her hands.

[1] Paintings of the four main virgins usually represent a form of the type Virgo inter Virgines, where several virgin martyrs beside the Virgin are sitting, on a bench or bank or on the ground, usually in a garden setting within an enclosure of some sort, a hortus conclusus.

The great veneration of the four capital virgins testifies that the Missale Coloniense (Missal of Cologne), printed in 1494, contained the votive mass Missa de sanctis quatuor virginibus capitalibus.