Titian's Vatican Altarpiece and the Pictures Underneath

Abstract

Towards the middle of the trecento, Nicolo Leon, a Procurator of S. Marco, fell victim to a sudden and wretched gastric disturbance. The remedy prescribed was lettuce, and the only place in Venice where it could be found in the middle of the night was the convent of S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. The Procurator recovered forthwith. To express his gratitude to the community he built a small oratory endowed for the support of ten friars. It was called, appositely enough, S. Nicolo della Lattuga, but it is more commonly known as S. Nicolo ai Frari.1 The building, which was destroyed in the last century, occupied the site of the present entrance to the Archivio di Stato, close to the main facade of the Frari. In the course of the cinquecento it was completely decorated with altarpieces, organ shutters, and a painted ceiling, largely by the Veronese shop.2 The principal altarpiece was Titian's Madonna and Child with Six Saints, now in the Vatican Pinacoteca (Figs. 1, 2).3 This was taken to Rome in 1770, when the...