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On May 19, 1518, the public unveiling of Titian's masterpiece "Assumption of the Virgin" a painted altarpiece in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice took place. It is the largest painting on wood panel in the world.

"Painted from 1516 to 1518, Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin, popularly known as the Assunta, is the largest painting on wood panel in the world and among the most influential altarpieces in European art. Towering to more than 22 feet tall, the altarpiece is painted in oil on 22 horizontal poplar planks. The masterpiece is housed in a monumental Istrian stone frame, attributed to Lorenzo and Giambattista Bregno and designed in collaboration with Titian. Modeled on an ancient Roman triumphal arch, the ensemble is topped by three over-life sized sculptures of Saint Francis, Saint Anthony, and Christ the Redeemer.

The unveiling of this painting in 1518 on the high altar of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the major Franciscan church in Venice, was an important public event that confirmed Titian’s position as the leading artist of the city. Extraordinarily innovative, the painting broke with tradition for its sheer size, bold use of color, heroic figure scale, and novel portrayal of the Virgin rising into heaven while the apostles watch in amazement from below.

In devising his composition, Titian took into consideration the surrounding elements that would affect the viewing conditions of the altarpiece. For example, the lancet windows set into the Gothic apse necessarily created a backlit effect, which Titian countered through his brilliant color palette. The preexisting choir precinct at the center of the nave, with its elegant marble screen executed by the Lombardo workshop, was punctuated with a central archway, which Titian effectively transformed into a scenographic frame for his painting on the high altar, taking into account the viewer’s approach from the main portal of the church.

The basic compositional formula consists of two geometric shapes: the Virgin Mary in a circle, and the amazed apostles in a rectangular block. Titian depicted the ascending Virgin, clad in crimson, in an explosion of brilliant light. The bold color of her robe is echoed in the red worn by two of the apostles below, unifying the two halves of the scene through color. The divine Mary is bathed in gold, while the apostles below are set against a blue sky, further separating the heavenly and earthly spheres. God the Father hovers above with an angel, ready to crown Mary as Queen of Heaven. The golden half-dome that frames her recalls the ecclesiastical architecture and gold mosaic tesserae of Byzantium, and, of course, the Basilica of San Marco at the very heart of Venice. The golden half-dome that frames her recalls the ecclesiastical architecture and gold mosaic tesserae of Byzantium, and, of course, the Basilica of San Marco at the very heart of Venice."