Titian, Assumption Of The Virgin

Titian, Assumption Of The Virgin

This altarpiece by Titian, undoubtedly one of the most inspirational works of Christian art, is among the greatest Renaissance paintings of the Venetian School. The largest of its kind in Venice (over 22 feet long), it was Titian's first major commissioned work in the city and took him two years to paint. It hangs above the high altar in the S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari Franciscan Basilica, where its color and monumental size can be seen from the other end of the church. When it was unveiled in May 1518, it made the young artist a leading figure of the High Renaissance art in Venice. And it was not just its immense size, but also its revolutionary composition. While previous religious paintings inside churches were relatively static, with statue-like saints and royal Madonnas, Titian's figures overflow with energy and life, giving the work enormous emotional power and drama. Brilliant Venetian neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822) described this work as the most beautiful painting in the world. It was removed from the altar in 1818 and transferred to the Venice Academy of Fine Arts, where it remained for a century before being returned to the Frari in 1919.

Titian divided this exquisite work of Biblical art into three sections. The lowest part represents the terrestrial plane where the disciples witness the Assumption of the Virgin; in the middle section, Mother Mary, surrounded by a host of angels, ascends towards the upper section representing Heaven, where God awaits her. The star of the painting is, of course, Madonna, depicted as being raised upwards within a curtain-like vortex above the solid-looking clouds. The work, depicting an important event in Roman Catholicism, is the most famous depiction of the moment when Mary is admitted into Heaven in Renaissance art, if not all Western art. One gets the feeling that she is not just a symbol of salvation, but also a symbol of Venice itself.

Above the Virgin, the celestial region is bathed in golden light (allegedly in homage to the Venetian mosaic art tradition), beneath which the apostles on the shadowy earth (Saint Peter, Saint Thomas, and Saint Andrew) are miraculously stunned and also distraught at losing their savior, the mother of Jesus. They plead for her to stay, but their eyes have already turned to Heaven. There, one can see the waiting figure of God, looking down at his children below with a stern but sad face, painted in an Impressionist style.

Today, Titian is famous for his rich, sensual use of color and radical painting technique. Dollops of color pigment seem to float on the surface of the painting. His masterful handling of colors is evident in the work: look at how the two red disciples form a pyramid with Madonna and draw our eyes to the red robe of the God figure.