"Assumption of the Virgin (Assunta)"

Titian - Tiziano Vecelli - Oil
Assumption of the Virgin (1516-1518) [1]is a large oil painting by Titian. 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. Titian may have trained as a mosaic 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 Transiguration 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.