The Burial of St. Petronilla
Painting by Guercino / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Burial of St. Petronilla is an altarpiece painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Guercino) around 1623. It simultaneously depicts the burial and the welcoming to heaven of the martyred Saint Petronilla. The altarpiece was painted for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, for a chapel dedicated to the saint and containing her relics. It was later transferred to the Quirinal Palace, before being taken to Paris by Napoleon's troops. Brought back to Italy by Antonio Canova, it was placed in the Capitoline Museums of Rome in 1818, where it is currently displayed.[1]
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2019) |
The Burial of St. Petronilla | |
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Artist | Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Guercino) |
Year | 1623 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 720 cm × 423 cm (280 in × 167 in) |
Location | Capitoline Museums, Rome |
Petronilla, whose name means "little rock", is popularly believed to have been the daughter of Saint Peter, whose Greek name, Petros, means "rock". Her relics had rested in the catacombs of Domitilla in Rome until 757 when Pope Paul I translated her body to St Peter's in the circular mausoleum called thereafter of St Petronilla. The saint was named by the same Pope protector and patron of the French Kings to reward Pepin the Short of his service to the Papacy in front of the Lombard invasion. When the Rotunda of St Petronilla was demolished during the construction of the new St Peter, her body was translated to a new altar within the new church (1606). Guercino was instructed then to paint an altarpiece for the altar above her tomb.