Save Venice Inc., the American nonprofit organization, announces an historic restoration of Titian’s monumental Assumption of the Virgin on the high altar of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari on the 500th anniversary of the painting’s unveiling (May 19, 1518), thanks to major funding from Beatrice de Santo Domingo and the Jasmine Charity Trust in honor of Regina Jaglom Wachter.

Painted from 1515-1518, 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, the altarpiece is painted in oil on 22 horizontal poplar planks. The masterpiece is housed in a heavily decorated and imposing Istrian stone frame, attributed to Lorenzo and Giambattista Bregno and designed in collaboration with Titian.