Tuccia

This very act was associated with one of the vestal virgins' ritual duties of fetching pure water which had never come into contact with the earth.

The story of Tuccia shares some similarities with that of Quinta Claudia, an ancient Roman matron who was accused of living an immoral life.

To prove her innocence of the charges she performed a miraculous feat with the aid of the goddess Cybele.

Aemilia, a vestal virgin who, when the sacred fire of Vesta went out on one occasion was accused by the priests of having neglected her duties to entertain men, prayed to Vesta for assistance, and miraculously rekindled it by throwing a piece of her garment upon the extinct embers.

Paintings of chaste women would often include a sieve, and this symbol figures prominently in many depictions of England's "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I in the late sixteenth century.