It is signed and dated 1488 on the centre of the Virgin Mary's throne, though it may have taken several years to produce, meaning he started it in 1485.

[2] It is in the basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice.

The work's division into compartments is rather old-fashioned and may have been explicitly demanded by the commissioner, but Bellini uses this to his advantage, integrating the painted architecture with the frame, which he designed himself.

This develops the illusionism of his San Giobbe Altarpiece, again placing the Virgin in a deep blue mantle on a high marble throne, using a golden light and a Byzanto-Venetian-style apse.

To the sides thin strips of landscape suggest a vast space behind the work, whilst the trompe-l'œil apse behind the Virgin bears an inscription reading IANUA CERTA POLI DUC MENTEM DIRIGE VITAM: QUAE PERAGAM COMMISSA TUAE SINT OMNIA CURAE ("Certain gate of heaven, guide [my] mind, direct [my] life: may everything I do be entrusted to your care").