Venice. The Frari’s Basilica. The Assumption by Titian (1518). Titian’s genius gave the Assumption its unmistakable and unbeatable touch. The stunning altar-piece (6.68 X 3.44 meters), started in 1516 and formed by 21 horizontal lines, was positioned in the marble frame on 19th May 1518. In 1516 Titian was invited by Father Germano to paint the altar-piece for the High Altar, the same year in which Giambattista Bregno completed the ancon. The paint was to portrait the Assumption of the Virgin. It was the first religious work of such importance which he had been asked to paint. In 1516 the Basilica, in all its greatness, was the grand pride of the Serenissima. The holy place was imposing: the precious choir at the centre of the church, the wide and well-lit transept, the ornate presbytery resplendent of the glory of the two Doges and the brand new altar awaiting the masterpiece. The painting had to complement and bring to life all of the surrounding works of art. Titian got to work and after only two year the painting was ready. The Virgin, dressed in red with open arms, stands in the centre of a bright light and soar above the apostles who are astonished and gesture frenetically. God the Father towers overhead and welcomes Her into infinity and almost pushing aside the green crown, the symbol of earthly death, He upholds the angel carrying the golden crown. All of the critics agree that in this painting there is such a grandiose style, finesse of composition, sublime creativity, audacious touch to make this an unsurpassable masterpiece. The sparkling of colour is remarkable: the apostles are in the twilight, whereas the angels are increasingly blessed in light, culminating in the splendor of the Virgin near the Eternal Father. The impression that the Virgin is soaring upwards is given by the imaginary triangle composed by the four large shapes in red which point toward the Eternal Father who is being reached by the Virgin. The gradual lightening of colour is awe-inspiring. Whereas the entire group of the apostles, even if their vestments are rich in colour, is shrouded in a half-light, the angels around the Virgin are immersed in a radiant red-orange atmosphere and a splendid aureole, the lightest point of the painting, surrounds the Virgin’s head near God the Father. Titian separates the earthly and the divine with the semicircular arrangement of the clouds and angels, as well as by various shades of light, reaching maximum intensity around the figure of Heavenly Father. According to Canova it was the most beautiful painting in the world.