The Burial of St. Petronilla is an altarpiece painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Guercino) around 1623.

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.

The representation created by Guercino emphasizes Petronilla's devotion to God above all, but also to the Church and the reward with which she met upon her death.

The hands extending toward the Saint break the line between the action in the painting and the world in which the congregation inhabited.

The right corner hand of the painting dissolves into complete darkness, while light is thrown onto Petronilla and the men lowering her into her grave.

Figures are cut out of the picture maintaining a feeling of quick movement, a sense of time, emphasizing the effect of disorganization.

Though, overall the lower tier of the painting is definite in its depiction of action, defined time and haphazard order.

The location of the burial scene on the bottom tier, the hands of an unseen man reaching toward the dead saint, the steady action of figures, the focus of attention on the burial of Petronilla, the proximity of the lowering of Petronilla's dead body to the altar where the congregation makes its own sacrifice envelope the congregation into its realm.

The size of the figures emphasizes the scene's statement, the congregation is made more aware of their part in the painting by its dominating presence.

There is a sense of time, as Petronilla bows before Christ Jesus, however, the animation is more suspended, calm, less fleeting.

Petronilla's head is bowed before Christ as he welcomes her, though the angels in heaven are relaxed and calm upon her arrival as they continue to make their own way beside and around her.