In 1649, Cardinal Girolamo Verospi commissioned this painting for a new church at the Capuchin monastery in Osimo, a small town in central Italy near the Adriatic coast. It was to be placed over the high altar. Because the church was being dedicated to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, the composition of the altarpiece needed to reflect the doctrine that Mary was conceived without sin. Castiglione depicted her as the Queen of Heaven, standing on a crescent moon and attended by a heavenly host and two kneeling saints, Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua. The coat of arms at the lower left attests that all expenses of the commission were borne by the church's archdeacon and patron, Pier Filippo Fiorenzi.This painting underwent an extensive and complex restoration during the fall of 1999. The seven-week long process was fully documented through text, video, and photography, and can be viewed in the interactive computer program located through the doorway to the left of the painting.