Frari Triptych

Giovanni Bellini's Frari Triptych, painted in 1488 and still in situ in the sacristy of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice, is one of his finest mature altarpieces. The triptych format is unusual for Bellini at this date—he had largely abandoned it in favor of unified compositions—but the three arched panels create a magnificent architectural effect. The Frari church also houses Titian's later Assumption and Pesaro Madonna, making it a shrine of Venetian painting.

Bellini achieves remarkable spatial coherence across the three arched panels through unified golden light and consistent atmospheric perspective, with the richly colored saints set within gilded niches that extend the church's actual architecture.