He was born in Rome in 1544 to Stefano Cerasi and Bartolomea Manardi. His father, originally from Naples, was hired in Rome around 1522 as a surgeon at the Hospital of Santa Maria della Consolazione, obtaining Roman citizenship in 1530. His mother came from a Florentine family which may explain why Tiberio had important connections to some of the major Florentine personalities residing in Rome. His brother, Giovan Pietro became a doctor, and wrote a medical treatise (Methodo dello spetiale), which was published in Rome in 1574. Tiberio Cerasi studied jurisprudence, and probably acquired a doctorate of both laws.Maria Grazia Bernardini: Caravaggio, Carracci, Maderno, Silvana, 2001, p. 18
