The drawing is one of the preparatory works for a colossal painting commissioned for one of the many altar niches in St Peter’s in 1621. However, the painting was replaced with a mosaic in 1730 and today the painting hangs in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. According to legend, Petronilla was the daughter of St Peter, and on account of her beauty he kept her out of public view so that no man should be tempted by her. However, on one single occasion, he allowed her to be present at a banquet, which led to a Roman nobleman falling in love with her. At the prospect of marriage, she chose instead to devote herself to prayer and fasting, which soon resulted in her death. Some versions of the legend say that the nobleman threatened her with death if she refused to marry him, after which she embarked on a hunger strike and died. Both then and subsequently, the finished painting was greeted with enthusiasm on the part of the public. Goethe praised Guercino for his “moral beauty and charm”, and Stendhal, famous for his travel accounts, felt that he was taking part in one of Shakespeare’s plays when standing before this painting.
