CARRACCI, Annibale
(b. 1560, Bologna, d. 1609, Roma)

Assumption of the Virgin Mary

1600-01
Oil on canvas, 245 x 155 cm
Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

The Cerasi Chapel is famous for Caravaggio's two paintings, The Conversion of St Paul and The Crucifixion of St Peter. However, Caravaggio's paintings do not stand alone. The artist's great competitor, Annibale Carracci, of all painters, received the commission for the main picture, an Assumption of the Virgin Mary, above the altar. There is a radical difference between the Bolognese artist's beautifully bright colors, the powerful blue and red he applies, as against Caravaggio's earth-tones, which he varies only by blue on St Peter and red on St Paul.




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