The four capital virgins, Latin: ''(quattuor) virgines capitales'', are a group of virgin martyrs of the early church. In literature they are also called ''main virgins'' or ''excellent virgins''. These are: Saint

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, ...

, Saint

Margaret of Antioch Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr ( grc-gre, Ἁγία Μαρίνα) in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in the Western Rite Orthodoxy, Roman Catholic Church and Anglicanism, o ...

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in t ...

and Saint Dorothea. Three of them – i. e. Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret and Saint Dorothea – belong to the

Fourteen Holy Helpers The Fourteen Holy Helpers (german: Vierzehn Nothelfer, la, Quattuordecim auxiliatores) are a group of saints venerated together by Roman Catholic Christians because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against ...

. In iconography these four capital virgins are often depicted together or around the Virgin Mary. 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. Paintings of the four main virgins usually represent a form of the type

Virgo inter Virgines In art, a (; plural: ''sacre conversazioni''), meaning holy (or sacred) conversation, is a genre developed in Italian Renaissance painting, with a depiction of the Virgin and Child (the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus) amidst a group of saints ...

, 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 ''Hortus conclusus'' is a Latin term, meaning literally "enclosed garden". At their root, both of the words in ''hortus conclusus'' refer linguistically to enclosure. It describes a genre of garden that was enclosed as a practical concern, a majo ...

. The great veneration of the four capital virgins testifies that the ''Missale Cologniense'' (Missal of Cologne), printed in 1494, contained the

votive mass In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a votive Mass (Latin ''missa votiva'') is a Mass offered for a ''votum'', a special intention. Such a Mass does not correspond to the Divine Office for the day on which it is celebrated. Every day in the yea ...

''Missa de sanctis quatuor virginibus capitalibus.''

References

{{Reflist Groups of Roman Catholic saints