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Assumption of the Virgin (Titian)
Encyclopedia
Assumption of the Virgin is a large oil painting
by Italian Renaissance artist Titian
, executed in 1516-1518. It is located on the high altar in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice
, being the largest altarpiece
in the city.
This panel was important in establishing Titian's popularity in Venice. According to some sources, an envoy to the emperor Charles V
was present at the unveiling ceremony: he asked the Franciscans, who were doubtful about the painting's quality, to buy it lest they were tempted to remove it.
When Titian placed this giant painting in its majestic marble frame, it garnered much attention. It was deemed worth noting by the Venetian diarist Marino Sanuto the Younger
who wrote, "May 20, 1518: Yesterday the panel painted by Titian for ... the Minorites was put up."
In 1818, it was moved to Venice's Academy, returning to its original place in Frari in 1919.
depicted in the painting is celebrated every year on August 15 and is a defined dogma
of the Catholic
church. It commemorates the rising of Mary in heaven before the decay of her body. It is a sign of her passing into eternal life and thus it a holy day of obligation. There is a distinction between the ascension of Jesus and the assumption of Mary. The ascensions was the rising of Jesus under his own power, while the assumption means that someone else raised up Mary to heaven. It is said that Jesus himself came and carried her up.
artist, and it has been suggested the golden background is a homage to the tradition of Venetian mosaics.
Titian was primarily an oil-ground painter which was prepared by his assistants. No one has the exact recipe, but the basic ingredients included linseed oil and gum turpentine
. Compositionally, Raphael
's Transfiguration is the closest precedent. The heroic figures and size were a new idea when the Assumption was placed in the Basilica. With its big dimensions, Titian was able to showpiece his work from different standpoints. He knew that with the varying distances of viewpoints, the bigger the picture, the more the angles.
This picture shows different events in three layers. In the lowest layer are the Apostles. They are shown in a variety of poses ranging from gazing in awe to kneeling and reaching for the skies. In the center, the Virgin Mary is drawn wrapped in a red robe and blue mantle. She is raised to the heavens by a swarm of cherubim while standing on a cloud. Above is an attempt to draw God
, who watches over the earth with hair flying in the wind. Next to him, flies an angel with a crown for Mary.
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
by Italian Renaissance artist Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, executed in 1516-1518. It is located on the high altar in the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, being the largest altarpiece
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
in the city.
History
The Assumption of the Virgin was Titian's first major commission in Venice. He soon became the lead painter of Venice. Breaking tradition with its heroic character scale and trademark color, its twisted Virgin and dramatically gesturing apostles disturbed passersby.This panel was important in establishing Titian's popularity in Venice. According to some sources, an envoy to the emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
was present at the unveiling ceremony: he asked the Franciscans, who were doubtful about the painting's quality, to buy it lest they were tempted to remove it.
When Titian placed this giant painting in its majestic marble frame, it garnered much attention. It was deemed worth noting by the Venetian diarist Marino Sanuto the Younger
Marino Sanuto the Younger
----Marin Sanudo, italianised in Marino Sanuto or Sanuto the Younger was a Venetian historian.He was the son of the senator Leonardo Sanuto. Left an orphan at the age of ten, he lost his fortune owing to the bad management of his guardian, and was for many years hampered by want of means...
who wrote, "May 20, 1518: Yesterday the panel painted by Titian for ... the Minorites was put up."
In 1818, it was moved to Venice's Academy, returning to its original place in Frari in 1919.
Title
The Assumption of MaryAssumption of Mary
According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...
depicted in the painting is celebrated every year on August 15 and is a defined dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
of the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
church. It commemorates the rising of Mary in heaven before the decay of her body. It is a sign of her passing into eternal life and thus it a holy day of obligation. There is a distinction between the ascension of Jesus and the assumption of Mary. The ascensions was the rising of Jesus under his own power, while the assumption means that someone else raised up Mary to heaven. It is said that Jesus himself came and carried her up.
Description
Titian may have trained as a mosaicMosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
artist, and it has been suggested the golden background is a homage to the tradition of Venetian mosaics.
Titian was primarily an oil-ground painter which was prepared by his assistants. No one has the exact recipe, but the basic ingredients included linseed oil and gum turpentine
Turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
. Compositionally, Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
's Transfiguration is the closest precedent. The heroic figures and size were a new idea when the Assumption was placed in the Basilica. With its big dimensions, Titian was able to showpiece his work from different standpoints. He knew that with the varying distances of viewpoints, the bigger the picture, the more the angles.
This picture shows different events in three layers. In the lowest layer are the Apostles. They are shown in a variety of poses ranging from gazing in awe to kneeling and reaching for the skies. In the center, the Virgin Mary is drawn wrapped in a red robe and blue mantle. She is raised to the heavens by a swarm of cherubim while standing on a cloud. Above is an attempt to draw God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, who watches over the earth with hair flying in the wind. Next to him, flies an angel with a crown for Mary.
Sources
- Durant, Will (1953). The Renaissance: A History of Civilization in Italy from the Birth of Petrarch to the Death of Titian - 1204 to 1576
- Jaffé, David (October 11, 2004). Titian.