After arriving in Rome, Ursula sleeps in a four-poster bed. The room is elegantly furnished. Let's look around the room: At the foot of Ursula's bed lies a crown, a sign that she is a princess.
On the wall behind the sleeping Ursula hangs a small holy picture with a candle and a vessel for holy water. Beyond that, there's an open door with an antique statuette above it. In the windows there are two flowerpots with myrrh and carnations – the two plants represent love and honor. On the right, there's a bookcase with a stool and a small table in front of it on which there are several books, an hourglass and a quill.
Early in the morning, an angel enters Ursula's bedroom to tell her about her martyrdom in a dream: On the journey home from Rome, Ursula, Aetherius, the Pope and the 11,000 virgins will come to Cologne. There, the group of pilgrims will be attacked by the Huns, shot with arrows or killed. Ursula, who does not want to surrender to the son of the enemy general, will die. Through her suffering and death, Ursula becomes a martyr of the Catholic Church.
For the nine pictures about Ursula's story, Carpaccio drew inspiration from books, plays, building plans, seafaring and the city of Venice itself with its people, houses, marketplaces and festivals. Carpaccio's pictures make him one of the most important storytellers and reporters of everyday life in Venice.