The first thing most visitors notice is the massive altarpiece behind the high altar: the Assumption of the Virgin, painted between 1516 and 1518 by Tiziano Vecellio, or Titian.
The painting shows the Virgin Mary rising into heaven in a swirl of golden light and crimson robes, surrounded by a ring of angels. God the Father is ready to receive her, with an angel handing him a crown for her coronation.
Below her, the apostles react with awe, their arms raised, their faces lit with emotion. Although all twelve are present, usually, only Peter (seated and praying) and John (in red, beardless) are identified. Titian signed the work “Titianus” (below Peter).