XIX secolo (da Tiziano Vecellio) - L'Assunta

Nineteenth century (after Titian Vecellio)
The Assumption
Oil on canvas, 77 x 42 cm
With frame, 79 x 43.5 cm

The painting presented here is a reduced-format copy of Titian’s The Assumption, executed in the nineteenth century in oil on canvas. The composition faithfully reproduces the tripartite structure of the original: in the lower band a group of apostles, raising their arms, express astonishment and wonder; in the middle zone the Virgin, clothed in red with a green–blue mantle, ascends toward the sky surrounded by a throng of cherubs and angels wrapped in clouds; at the top, bathed in light, stands the Eternal Father.
The original is an oil on panel by Titian, dated 1516–1518, preserved in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice, where it overlooks the central altar. An indisputable masterpiece of the artist, The Assumption was such an innovative work that it left contemporaries stunned, definitively elevating Titian, then barely more than twenty, to the Olympus of the great Renaissance masters.
The work was commissioned from Titian by the Franciscans of the Frari convent as an altarpiece in 1516, the most important official religious commission he had received to that date. On 20 March 1518 the work was solemnly inaugurated, placed in a monumental marble shrine built specifically for it. The degree of innovation with respect to the Venetian sacred painting of the time was so great that the commissioners were astounded: the friars were about to refuse it, were it not for the Austrian ambassador, emissary of Emperor Charles V, who offered to acquire it, recognizing its value.
As envy cooled, the masterpiece began to be recognized for its worth, where the grandeur and terribilità of Michelangelo meet the pleasing quality of Raphael and the coloristic pulse of nature itself. The altarpiece, almost seven meters tall, has an extraordinary link with the Gothic architecture of the basilica, foretelling its presence from afar at the end of the nave’s perspective, and the bright red of the Virgin’s robe seems to reflect on the bricks of the walls, lighting them up.

The nineteenth-century copy presented here testifies to the enduring fascination exerted by Titian’s work over the subsequent centuries. The production of reduced-format replicas was a widespread practice in modern Europe, intended for private devotion as well as aristocratic collecting, and the Frari’s Assunta was among the most replicated subjects precisely for its extraordinary visual and spiritual power. The execution quality of the copy, with an accurate rendering of color values and the arrangement of the figures, suggests the hand of a cultivated and technically prepared painter, capable of conveying the ascensional energy of the original composition even at reduced size.

The frame is provided as a courtesy, therefore it cannot be a reason for return or complaint.

For paintings purchased abroad: after payment, the procedure will be started to obtain the export license (ALC). All antique pieces sent abroad from Italy require this document, issued by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. The procedure may take 3 to 5 weeks from the request, so as soon as we have the document the painting will be shipped."