Her father urged her to deny God, but she refused, and she was dragged naked through the streets to a brothel, then tried and sentenced to death.

An early account of Agnes, stressing her young age, steadfastness and virginity was written by the 4th-century theologian, St Ambrose.

Since the Middle Ages, she has traditionally been depicted as a young girl with her long hair with a lamb (the symbol of her virginal innocence and her name), a sword, and a palm branch (an attribute of her martyrdom).

She and Emerentiana appear in the scenes from the life of Agnes on the 14th-century Royal Gold Cup in the British Museum in London.

[citation needed] An early account of Agnes' death, stressing her young age, steadfastness and virginity, but not the legendary features of the tradition, is given by the 4th-century theologian, Ambrose.

[2] The broader social circumstances of her martyrdom are believed to be largely authentic, though the legend cannot be proven true, and many details of the 5th-century Acts of Saint Agnes have been challenged.

[5] Saint Agnes' bones are conserved beneath the high altar in the church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura in Rome,[9] built over the catacomb that housed her tomb.

Folk custom called for them to practise rituals on Saint Agnes' Eve (20–21 January) with a view to discovering their future husbands.

[13] Since the Middle Ages, Saint Agnes has traditionally been depicted as a young girl with her long hair down, with a lamb, the symbol of both her virginal innocence[14] and her name, and a sword (together with the palm branch an attribute of her martyrdom).

[15][16] On the feast of Saint Agnes, two lambs are traditionally brought from the Trappist abbey of Tre Fontane in Rome to be blessed by the Pope.

It was founded in 1858, by Father Caspar Rehrl, an Austrian missionary, who established the sisterhood of pioneer women under the patronage of Agnes, to whom he had a particular devotion.

The instrumental song "Saint Agnes and the Burning Train" appears on the 1991 album The Soul Cages by Sting.