Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari: Titian's Resting Place

Why is it significant?

Stand in the vast Campo dei Frari before the soaring brick facade and campanile of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

Key Facts

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Stand in the vast Campo dei Frari before the soaring brick facade and campanile of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Founded by Franciscan friars in twelve fifty and completed over nearly two centuries, this colossal church is the Pantheon of Venice, where doges, military heroes, and artistic masters rest beneath centuries of holy stone.

Step through the portal and gaze down the nave: rising almost seven meters high behind the marble choir screen is Titian's breathtaking masterpiece, The Assumption of the Virgin, completed in fifteen eighteen. The fiery red robes of the Virgin floating into golden celestial light marked the triumphant dawn of the High Renaissance in Venice.

In the right aisle stands the monumental nineteenth-century marble tomb of Titian himself, who died of the plague in fifteen seventy-six at nearly ninety years old. Directly opposite rises a striking white marble pyramid designed by sculptor Antonio Canova, inside of which rests only Canova's preserved heart in a porphyry urn.

Walk south across the bridges to the Accademia Bridge for the grand finale.