PETRONILLA, santa, martire. - Commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on May 31. Certainly an authentic martyr and Roman, yet nothing is known of her biography or under which persecution she perished.

The similarity of her name led to the arbitrary belief that she was the daughter of the apostle Peter; her death is mentioned in the Passio ss. Nerei et Achillei, a legendary writing and in conflict with far more reliable sources. Her tomb, recorded by the Itineraries of the 7th century, was located in the cemetery of Domitilla on the Via Ardeatina, where, during the pontificate of Pope Siricius (384-99), a basilica was built in her honor. A 4th-century fresco in the same cemetery depicts her introducing into heaven the soul of a devout woman, and bears the inscription: Petronella martyr. P. is the special patroness of France. Feast on May 31.

Bibliography7 works

BIBL.: Acta SS. Maii, VII, Paris 1867, pp. 413-15; G. B. De Rossi, Scoperta della basilica di S. P., in Bull. arch. crist., 5 (1875), pp. 5-19, 26-33; P. Danglefort, Ste P., patronne de France, Avignon 1911; H. Delchaye, Sanctus, Brussels 1927, pp. 118-20; Maryr. Hieronymianum, pp. 280, 283 ff.; Martyr. Romanum, p. 216; R. Valentini-G. Zucchetti, Codice topogr. della città di Roma, II, Rome 1941, p. 63 ff.

Agostino Amore

ICONOGRAPHY - St. P. is usually depicted as a young girl with a palm and a book in her hands. Thus by Daniele da Volterra in a statue in the cathedral of Lucca. A very large altarpiece depicting the funeral of the Saint and her entry into heavenly glory was painted in 1623 by Guercino to adorn the altar with the tomb of the Saint, which is located in the Vatican Basilica. The said altarpiece was replaced in the eighteenth century with a copy executed in mosaic; the original of Guercino's painting is now preserved in Rome in the Capitoline Picture Gallery.

PETRONILLA, saint - The deceased Veneranda with the martyr St. P. Painting from the 2nd half of the 4th century - Rome, cemetery of Domitilla.(phot. Pont. Ist. Arch. Cristiana)

Bibliography

BIBL.: K. Künste, Ikonographie der Heiligen, Friburgo in Br. 1926, pp. 492-93.

Witold Wehr

@incollection{ec9_petronilla_santa_martire, author = {Amore, Agostino and Wehr, Witold}, title = {Petronilla, santa, martire}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {1302--1303}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/petronilla-santa-martire} }

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Petronilla, Saint, Martyr

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