The Altarpiece is Titian's first work dated 1520. From the cartouche placed at the base of the work: "ALOYXIUS GOTIUS RAGOSINUS / FECIT FIERI / MDXX / TITIANUS CADORINUS PINSIT" we learn that this was commissioned by the noble Dalmatian merchant Luigi Gozzi, active in Ancona , for the main altar of the Church of San Francesco ad Alto.

The representation sees the apparition of the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels, while in the lower part there are, in addition to the Gozzi portrayed on the right kneeling with hands joined, the Saints Francis, owner of the homonymous church and San Biagio, protector of Dubrovnik, who through the index finger of his right hand, he leads everyone's attention to the heavenly vision.

The event takes place in the warmest twilight light in an indefinite place but not far from Venice, the city recognizable in the background, also testifying to the intense relations between Ancona, Dalmatia and the Serenissima. The representation of the slender fig tree is the bearer of a strong symbolic value, of redemption and salvation.

The back of the table presents some preparatory charcoal sketches, including a sketch for the Child, by the hand of Titian himself. A masterful painting that represents a fundamental step in his stylistic evolution.