Focus on Assumption of the Virgin (Cerasi Chapel) and analyze the History.
The chapel in the left transept of the basilica was built by Monsignor Tiberio Cerasi, Consistorial Advocate and Treasurer-General to Pope Clement VIII. He purchased a chapel on the same spot from the Augustinian friars on 8 July 1600 and commissioned Carlo Maderno to rebuild the small edifice in Baroque style. In September Cerasi contracted Caravaggio to paint two panels for the side walls. Presumably another contract was signed at an early stage in the proceedings with Carracci for the altarpiece but this document has not been preserved. Preparatory studies and sketches by Carracci are preserved in the Royal Collection.
The commissions went to the leading artists in Rome at the time: during these years Carracci was busy working on the famous fresco cycle of the Palazzo Farnese for Cardinal Odoardo Farnese. Probably due to his increased workload in the palace, the three ceiling frescos in the chapel were executed by his assistant, Innocenzo Tacconi following Carracci's design. In these circumstances there was little reason for Carracci and Caravaggio to regard each other as business rivals, states Denis Mahon.Tiberio Cerasi died on 3 May 1601 and was buried in the chapel. In his will he named the Fathers of the Hospital of the Madonna della Consolazione as his heirs with the responsibility to complete the still unfinished chapel. Annibale's altarpiece was probably already complete as deduced from an avviso written perhaps by Giulio Mancini and dated to 2 June:"The principal painting in the chapel [is] by the said Carracci, those three paintings being, on the whole, of great excellence and beauty."
This is also confirmed by the fact that there are no recordings of payments in favor of Carracci in the documents concerning the management of the assets of Tiberio Cerasi drawn up after his death. The chapel was finally consecrated on 11 November 1606. It was dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.
Innocenzo Tacconi Tiberio Cerasi Giulio Mancini Baroque Rome Pope Clement VIII Caravaggio Assumption of Mary left Denis Mahon Consistorial Advocate Carlo Maderno Royal Collection Odoardo Farnese Palazzo Farnese fresco cycle Assumption Carracci