Titian's Assumption
The Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, known simply as the Frari, is one of the largest churches in Venice and the great church of the Franciscan friars ("frari" in Venetian). Built in brick in Gothic style between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it has a sober exterior and a tall bell tower, the second highest in the city after that of San Marco, but its interior is a treasure house of art.
Above the high altar, framed by the arch of the monks' choir, shines Titian's Assumption of the Virgin (1516 to 1518), a huge altarpiece almost seven metres high in which the Virgin rises to heaven in a whirl of red and gold, among the apostles below and God the Father above: a revolutionary work that established Titian's fame. In a side altar, the Pesaro Madonna, also by Titian, broke the rules of symmetry; in the sacristy, Giovanni Bellini's triptych of the Madonna and Child with saints is one of the most serene images of the Venetian Renaissance. The church also holds the tomb of Titian, who died of plague in 1576, the pyramid-shaped monument to Antonio Canova, and a wooden statue of St John the Baptist by Donatello.
Tip: entry is paid but includes an audio guide; combine it with the nearby Scuola Grande di San Rocco.
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