Pieta
		c. 1577 Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
		In Titian's older years a terrible plague spread across Venice in 1576, causing the population to decrease greatly. Many died, and those who fled to the mainland hoped they could get the safety of quarantine areas or of medical potions. Titian, however, was one of the people that stayed in Venice, surrounded by dying people who got the plague. Perhaps his brave character convinced him to confront the disease and try not to get it. The fact he was old and that he didn't want to leave his comfortable house in San Caniciano pushed him to stay just where he was. As a result, Titian's work started to get influenced by thoughts of death. He started to plan a tomb for when he died at the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, which already was surrounded by some of his famous art works. He started working on a painting he wanted to be hung above the altar, which he intended to have built right on top of his tomb. Blocks of stone surround the subjects, and the Virgin holds the dead Christ on her lap and in her arms. Kneeling to the right of the Virgin, the viewer can see Nicodemus praying. To the left of the Virgin, Mary Magdalene has run towards Christ, her cry of horror echoing off the statues of Moses and the Hellespontic Subilof at the side of the painting. Sinister colors are used in the painting. Titian's use metallic greys, opposite the somewhat golden mosaic found in the middle painting, and thick smoke coming from the torch held by the funerary angel, conveys the tragedy of the scene. This funerary angel was probably finished by Palmo il Giovane, the painter who fully completed the painting after Titian's death. Before he died, Titian managed to add the shading and iron-grey of the painting, which are represented by the two lion heads, one on each side of the painting. The symbolism of their jaws, in fierce snarls, and eyes add to the feeling of tragedy. Over the head of the lion on the right, the viewer can barely spot a sketch of the shadow of a raised hand. This represents the gesture of defense against the incumbent nothingness of the afterlife.
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