Burial of Saint Petronilla

The large altar-piece was painted for Saint Peter's Basilica between 1621 and 1623. Gregory XV Ludovisi, the Bolognese pope who called the artist to Rome, commissioned the work. The work is divided into two registers. At the bottom, the powerful figures of the gravediggers lower the saint into the tomb. They are surrounded by other groups of well-defined personages in the background. Above, the apotheosis is rendered through the contrast between the beautiful figure of Christ and the rich, decorated garment of the saint.