The collaboration between Father Alessio Fucile, an art expert, and the Shalom blog continues. Father Alessio will guide us in exploring the most important moments of the liturgical year through beautiful works of art which, besides inspiring wonder at their splendor, can help us better understand Sacred Scripture and the message of Jesus.
Today Father Alessio presents the celebrated Assumption, commissioned by the Franciscan prior of the Venetian Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and painted by Titian, as revealed by the Latin signature at the bottom. This was the young Venetian painter’s first major religious commission, created between 1516 and 1518, and it was called Titian’s Perfection.
The Presentation by Brother Germano da Casale
Dearest brothers, what we see painted here by our great fellow citizen, the devout Titian, is one of the Lord’s great miracles. With the assumption into heaven of his holy mother, we see here the Apostles, great, simple, powerful men, chosen by Jesus from among the fishermen. And behold, you see them: as soon as the marvelous whirlwind has begun to stir, they are all standing, arms raised toward heaven, and seem to cry out: “Oh, Mary, our mother, why are you leaving us?” And while the Virgin rises into heaven to meet her martyred Son, for the redemption of our sins, the orphaned Apostles weep and implore…
With these words, Brother Germano da Casale, the work’s commissioner and superior of the Venetian convent, presented Titian’s altarpiece to the city. The theatrical pose and movement in the scene immediately caused bewilderment among the public, accustomed to the immobile and impassive altarpieces made up to that time. The figures, illuminated by the glitter of the torches, appeared real and tangible, so much so that many of those present were heard to exclaim during the inauguration: magnificent, powerful, it seems completely real!
An Epiphany of Another World
The scene appears as the epiphany of another world that suddenly tears open before the observer’s eyes. A golden sun blazes at the center of the altarpiece, directly behind Mary, recalling the woman clothed with the sun in the Book of Revelation. Titian depicts Mary as she looks toward the Father, who comes to meet her among the angels, almost taking a delicate dancing step above the clouds, covering her with his shadow, just as he had done on the day of the Annunciation. And Mary, virginally sensual, appears as the bride of the Song of Songs going to meet her bridegroom.
An Innovative Interpretation of the Assumption Theme
Titian’s great altarpiece, almost seven meters high, interprets the theme of the Assumption in an entirely new way. First of all, Mary’s sarcophagus disappears, and thus any possible reference to death. Moreover, in traditional iconography, the event was suggested by the clipeus, the circle symbolizing heaven; later, the circle became a radiating halo or a dazzling brilliance of angelic figures associating Mary with the realm of light where God dwells. Until then, no painter had moved away from the symbol of the mandorla, suggestive of the seed and therefore a clear metaphor for Life and a natural attribute of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, or from the allusion to the intersection of two circles representing communication between two worlds, two different dimensions: the material and the spiritual, the human and the divine. Here Mary is neither in a circle nor in a mandorla, but is the epicenter of a dramatic and powerfully dynamic composition in which all the figures, including the Eternal Father, seem set alight by an impulse drawing them toward that epicenter. The effect is made even more lifelike by the shadow cast by the cloud raising Mary onto the crowd of Apostles, who, from below, amid a tumult of emotions, stretch out their arms and gaze toward her.
Gradations of Red and Divine Apparitions
Also original and extraordinary are the various gradations of red which, rising from the plane of the Apostles up to Mary, end in the mantle of the Eternal Father: the garments of the two Apostles below and Mary’s garment in fact form an ideal triangle whose sharp apex points toward the red garment of the Eternal Father, toward which Mary’s gaze and that of the observer are drawn. The apparition of God the Father also replaces that of Christ, typical of traditional iconography. In his red mantle, he appears in foreshortening, flanked by two angels holding crowns for Mary. The Eternal Father is presented in backlight for two reasons: first, Titian wishes to provide an independent source of light for the painting; second, this gives God the appearance of a supernatural vision with vague, indistinct contours.
A Scene Built on Figures and Light
Just below, a cloud populated by a multitude of angels of different ages and engaged in different activities: some sing, others play instruments, and one supports the figure of Mary, who slowly rises toward heaven with her gaze turned upward, standing out against an immense background filled entirely with gold and light. The Virgin opens her arms to reach toward the figure of the Eternal Father, who descends above her; in the ecstasy of joy, Mary’s face, lost in the luminous atmosphere, expresses one of the most beautiful raptures of love in the history of art. The entire painting revolves around the relationship between Mary and the Father and the poetry of their gazes because, in the space expanded by dazzling sparkles, they look at one another, await one another, love one another, each with her gaze fixed upon the other.
Mary’s Iconographic Colors
Titian eliminates every architectural element from the scene, constructing the image solely with figures and transitions of light and shadow that create contrasts and heighten the prominence of certain figures over others, suggesting spatial depth. The Apostles question one another, surge forward, and pray, performing different actions, just as the angels do.
Mary wears the colors of classical iconography. The red of her garment indicates her humanity and is the symbol of love, while the blue mantle is the color of infinity, spirituality, and divinity. The transparent veil over her chest symbolizes her Immaculate Conception. The Virgin, with a bold twist giving her a whirling movement reflected in the drapery stirred by the wind and in the arrangement of the angels, has not yet completed her ascent into Heaven, and this explains why her face is not yet fully illuminated by the light: the shadow, in fact, recalls the earthly world, to which the Virgin remains bound until she has completely completed her ascent.
The Apostles’ Reactions
Against the twilight backdrop of a blue sky stands the group of Apostles witnessing the miraculous event, all reaching upward in various poses. Seated in shadow at the center is Peter, overcome by the miraculous event, kneeling while keeping his hands and head turned upward; to his right is John, still in contemplation, raising his elbow and theatrically placing his left hand on his chest in surprise. Near John is an apostle dressed in white and green, probably Andrew, bent over and gazing intently toward the heavenly apparition. Seen from behind, the apostle dressed in red, perhaps James the Greater, stands out, stretching his arms toward heaven along a double diagonal reinforced by the two little angels whose bodies are arranged in parallel. Behind Peter, probably Paul reassures the ever-skeptical Thomas and points out Mary to him. Each figure is captured in a different position: one points to heaven, one is silent and observes, one prays and believes, one rejoices, one cries out, in a confusion of gestures expressing agitation and turmoil. In their depiction, Titian seems to reproduce the different attitudes of human beings, their varying positions before the mystery, and the artist tells how people respond differently to faith. Without these gestures of astonishment by the Apostles pointing to Mary as she rises into heaven, the immediacy of the event would not be felt, represented as if it were taking place hic et nunc. But this is not the altarpiece’s only manifestation of realism: Titian, drawing on the Gospel account that speaks of fishermen of humble origin, was inspired by the boatmen of the Lagoon when portraying the Apostles, which explains their imposing and vigorous, yet natural, figures.
Titian’s “Revolution”
The work marked Titian’s definitive consecration and stood out for its original interpretation of this theme, emphasizing above all the emotional agitation running through the figures in the sacred scene. Previously, the Assumption had been represented in an abstract and undramatic manner, and Titian was the first to imagine the scene as an explosion of color, feeling, and dynamism, in which titanic figures move energetically along unusual diagonals, inexorably directing the viewer’s attention toward Mary’s head and the dazzling light behind her, not a simple cloud but a materialization of cherubim. Titian’s work invites us to believe that, after death, Mary’s body did not encounter corruption but instead met God’s light, receiving through this testimony not a reward but the consequence of what she had lived. What Mary experienced will also happen to all faithful believers, to their bodies and their lives. Our final destination is not the cemetery, a temporary place of rest, but the glory of God: our bodies too are destined for glory and have a future in which they will be transfigured. Everything that is limitation will be erased, everything that is good will be strengthened: this is the glorious body, the same one you contemplate in Mary and painted by Titian.
Thank you for your attention.
