EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTER, Italian
(active 4th century in Rome)

The Martyrs Veneranda and Petronilla

c. 356
Fresco
Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome

The Catacombs of Domitilla on the Via Appia Antica in Rome (named after Saint Domitilla) spread over 17 kilometres of underground caves.

They are the oldest of Rome's underground burial networks, and the only ones to still contain bones. They are also the best preserved and one of the most extensive of all the catacombs.

A painting, in which Petronilla is represented as receiving a deceased person (named Veneranda) into heaven, was discovered on the closing stone of a tomb in an underground crypt. Beside the saint's picture is her name: Petronilla Mart. (yr). That the painting was done shortly after 356, is proved by an inscription found in the tomb.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.