Great Works: The Assumption (1516-18) by Titian

THE INDEPENDENT
By Michael Glover

"The Assumption (1516-18) by Titian by Tiziano "Titian" Vecelli (1490-1576)

ITALY---Titian's masterpiece still hangs where it has hung for almost 500 years, on the high altar of one of the greatest and most muscular religious establishments in Venice, the Franciscan church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Religious paintings before this one were often more static and demure, as if displaying a kind of cowed, reverential awe in the face of the sacredness of the subject. Titian seems to let rip as never before – and he was criticised by many for doing so, as Vasari tells us in some detail in his biography. The subject could scarcely be more important to Catholic Christendom – it is the point at which Mary ascends into heaven, to be embraced by God the Father. We see him there, peering down at her, expectant. [link]