The Assumption of the Virgin

The building this hangs in belongs to a confraternity dedicated to Saint Roch, the saint Venetians prayed to against plague, and much of its money came from exactly that. The epidemic of 1575 to 1577 killed something close to a third of the city, with Titian dying in 1576 while it raged, and the legacies of frightened and grateful Venetians made San Rocco rich. Tintoretto painted for the confraternity for more than 20 years. This ground-floor hall was the last part of the job, done between 1582 and 1587 with help from his son Domenico, and the Assumption is one of eight large canvases here on the life of the Virgin and the childhood of Christ. It stands nearly six metres high, made for a room that members and visitors simply walked through on their way in.