E05836: Image of a praying girl, on a marble plaque in low-relief, perhaps labelled as *Agnes (virgin and martyr of Rome, S00097). The label is, however, scarcely legible, and its text and date have been questioned. According to different reports found in the cemetery or church of Agnes on the via Nomentana (Sant'Agnese fuori-le-mua), Rome. Usually dated to the 4th c.

Fragment of a marble plaque. H. 0.90 m; W. 1.30 m. Possibly from a latticework or a chancel screen. Decorated with geometrical patterns resembling conchs, with an image of a young woman in low-relief, shown in the posture of an orant. The female figure is about 0.68 m high. The inscription, scarcely legible, is scratched to the right and to the left of the head. Different editors suggested several contradictory readings which cannot be verified due to the present-day poor condition of the stone.

Mariano Armellini's reading:

SS ΛΝ NEΛS

s(ancti)s(sima) Anneas = 'The most holy Agnes'

This reading is the most widely accepted, and, for example, reproduced in the Epigraphic Database Bari as the basic text. Antonio Ferrua, was, however, unable to confirm it when he examined the stone. He managed to recognise just the damaged letters A and N. Ferrua also points out that Pietro Amato Frutaz was even more sceptical about the accuracy of Armellini's reading, calling it entirely imaginary.

Orazio Marucchi's reading:

SCA Agnes

s(an)c(t)a Agnes = 'Saint Agnes'

Rudolf Herzog's reading:

n(umerus) f(olii) 4 m(armorum) SS. Anneas = 'Number of the plaque: 4. Of the marbles (of the church of) the most holy Agnes.'

This reading is refuted by Ferrua.

As no inscription features in the earliest reports of the discovery of this carving, one can suppose that it is a later addition, resulting from a modern identification of the praying girl as Agnes. Similar images of unidentified praying women are, however, a common iconographic motive in Roman suburban cemeteries.

Text: ICVR, n.s., VIII, no. 20759 = EDB9579.