Frari Triptych: The Virgin and child with putti between four saints, 1488

La vergine col bimbo e putti musicanti, fra quattro santi; The triptych: Madonna and Child Enthroned (in the centre), Saints Nicholas and Peter (on the left) and Saints Mark and Benedict (on the right) is signed and dated on the central panel. The wooden frame is probably designed by Bellini himself, its pilaster strips illusorily support the ceiling of the open space at sides in which the saints are placed. In the centre, the Virgin, raised aloft by the throne, has a lighted golden apsidiole behind her (see also the San Giobbe Altarpiece). On the mosaic that covers it a Latin invocation can be read: IANUA CERTA POLI DUC MENTEM DIRIGE VITAM: QUAE PERAGAM COMISSA TUAE SINT OMNIA CURAE (Secure gateway to Heaven, guide my mind, lead my life, may everything I do be entrusted to your care).