Venetian glass
Venetian glass (Italian: vetro veneziano) is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as gilding, enamel, or engraving. Production has been concentrated on the Venetian island of Murano since the 13th century. Today Murano is known for its art glass, but it has a long history of innovations in glassmaking in addition to its artistic fame—and was Europe's major center for luxury glass from the High Middle Ages to the Italian Renaissance. During the 15th century, Murano glassmakers created cristallo—which was almost transparent and considered the finest glass in the world. Murano glassmakers also developed a white-colored glass (milk glass called lattimo) that looked like porcelain. They later became Europe's finest makers of mirrors.
During the Early Middle Ages, Venice was originally controlled by the
Murano became Europe's luxury glassmaking center, peaking in popularity in the 15th and 16th centuries. Venice's dominance in trade along the Mediterranean created a wealthy merchant class that was a strong connoisseur of the arts. This helped establish demand for art glass and more innovations. The spread of glassmaking talent in Europe eventually diminished the importance of Venice and its Murano glassmakers. The
Late Antiquity and Middle Ages
The Venetian
It is thought that glass production in Venice began as early as around 450, as glassmakers from
Venetian glassmaking grew in importance to the city's economy. Around 1271 the local glassmakers' guild made rules to help preserve glassmaking secrets. It was forbidden to divulge trade secrets outside of Venice. If a glassworker left the city without permission, he would be ordered to return.[Note 3] If he failed to return, his family would be imprisoned. If he still did not return, an assassin would be sent to kill him. Additional rules specified ingredients used for making glass and the type of wood used as fuel for the furnaces.[10]
Island of Murano
A law dated November 8, 1291 confined most of Venice's glassmaking industry to the "island of
Murano in the 1200s was a summer resort where the aristocrats of Venice built villas with orchards and gardens. It took about an hour to row a boat from Venice to Murano.[15] Although the glassmakers could not leave the island, the nobles had no such constraints. Despite their travel restrictions, the glassmakers lived on a beautiful island, were under the direct rule of Venice's Council of Ten (the Venetian state-security committee), and had extra privileges.[16] They did not work during the hot summer, during which furnace repair and maintenance was performed.[17] During the 1300s, the annual summer vacation lasted five months.[18] In the 1400s, the Venetian government shortened the summer vacation to three and a half months.[19] Murano glassmakers sometimes complained they were not working enough.[Note 5] Glassmakers also enjoyed heightened social status. On December 22, 1376, it was announced that if a glassmaker's daughter married a nobleman, there was no forfeiture of social class, so their children were nobles.[21]
Major products and innovations
The Venetian glassmakers of Murano are known for many innovations and refinements to glassmaking. Among them are Murano beads, cristallo, lattimo, chandeliers, and mirrors.[13] Additional refinements or creations are goldstone, multicolored glass (millefiori), and imitation gemstones made of glass.[22] In addition to guarding their secret processes and glass recipes, Venetian/Murano glassmakers strived for beauty with their glass.[23]
Aventurine
Beads
Glass beads (a.k.a. Murano beads) were made by the Venetians beginning in the 1200s. The beads were used as rosary beads and jewelry. They were also popular in Africa. Christopher Columbus noted that the people of the New World (Native Americans) were "delighted" with the beads as gifts, and beads became popular with American Indians.[26]
Calcedonio
Calcedonio is a marbled glass that looked like the semiprecious stone chalcedony.[27] This type of glass was created during the 1400s by Angelo Barovier, who is considered Murano's greatest glassmaker.[28] Barovier was an expert glassblower, revived enameling, and also worked with colored glass. His family had been involved with glassmaking since at least 1331, and the family continued in the business after his death.[29] He died in 1460.[Note 6]
Chandeliers
During the 1700s, Giuseppe Briati was famous for his work with ornamented mirrors and chandeliers.[23] Briati's chandelier style was called ciocche—literally bouquet of flowers. Briati's typical chandelier was large with multiple arms decorated with garlands, flowers and leaves. One of the common uses of the huge Murano chandeliers was interior lighting for theatres and important rooms in palaces. Briati was born in Murano in 1686, and his family's business was glassmaking. He was allowed to work in a Bohemian glass factory, where he learned the secrets of working with Bohemian crystal—which was becoming more popular than Murano cristallo. In 1739, the Council of Ten allowed him to move his furnace from Murano to Venice because his work had caused such jealousy that he and his workers feared for their lives. (His father had been stabbed to death in 1701.)[32] Briati retired in 1762, and his nephew became manager of the glass works. Briati died in Venice in 1772, and is buried in Murano.[33]
Cristallo
Cristallo is a soda glass, created during the 15th century by Murano's Angelo Barovier.[Note 7] The oldest reference to cristallo is dated May 24, 1453.[9] At the time, cristallo was considered Europe's clearest glass, and is one of the main reasons Murano became "the most important glass center".[13]
The name arose because it looked like
Filigrana
The filigrana (a.k.a. filigree) style was developed in Murano in the 1500s. By embedding glass canes (usually white but not always) in colorless glass, the glassware has a striped appearance. Vetro a fili has straight white stripes, vetro a retortoli has twisted or spiral patterns, and vetro a reticello has two sets of lines twisted in opposite directions. Francesco Zeno has been mentioned as the inventor of vetro a retortoli.[39]
Lattimo
Lattimo, or milk glass, began being made in Murano during the 15th century, and Angelo Barovier is credited with its re-discovery and development.
Millefiori
Millefiori glass is a variation of the murrine technique made from colored canes in clear glass, and is often arranged in flower-like patterns. The Italian word millefiori means thousand flowers.[24] This technique was perfected in Alexandria, Egypt, and began being used in Murano in the 15th century.[43]
Mirrors
Small mirrors were made in Murano beginning in the 1500s, and mirror makers had their own guild beginning in 1569.[44] Murano mirrors were known for the artwork on the frame that held the mirror in addition to their quality.[44] By the 1600s, Murano mirrors were in great demand. However, by the end of the century, English-made mirrors had the best quality. Only one glass house in Murano was still making mirrors by 1772.[45]
Murrine
Murrine technique begins with the layering of colored liquid glass, heated to 1,040 °C (1,900 °F), which is then stretched into long rods called canes. When cooled, these canes are then sliced in cross-sections, which reveals the layered pattern. Ercole Barovier, a descendant of Murano's greatest glassmaker Angelo Barovier, won numerous awards during the 1940s and 1950s for his innovations using the murrine technique.[46]
Sommerso
Sommerso ("submerged" in Italian), is a form of artistic Murano glass that has layers of different colors (typically two), which are formed by dipping colored glass into another molten glass and then blowing the combination into a desired shape. The outermost layer, or casing, is often clear. Sommerso was developed in Murano during the late 1930s. Flavio Poli was known for using this technique, and it was made popular by Seguso Vetri d'Arte and the Mandruzzato family in the 1950s. This process is a popular technique for vases, and is sometimes used for sculptures.[46]
Golden age, decline, and revival
The 16th century was the golden age for Venetian glassmaking in Murano. Major trading partners included the
During the 16th century Murano glassmakers liberated themselves from the imitation of metalwork shapes, which had previously been their habit. Shapes became elongated and elegant, "then more elaborate and inclining to fantasy", for example in the hot-work pieces added to the sides of the stems of glasses. The glass was extremely thin, and therefore fragile, adding to the effect of luxury.[36]
In 1612 the Florentine priest Antonio Neri published L’Arte Vetraria (The Art of Glass), which revealed all the secrets of Venetian glass production to the outside world,[51] and by the later 16th century the efforts of the Venetian Republic to hold on to its virtual monopoly in the production of luxury glass, mainly by keeping skilled workers in the republic, were beginning to fail. Other countries, often led by their monarchs, were keen to have their own fine glass industries, and tempted skilled workers away. This led to a diffusion of the Venetian style to many centres around Europe. The glass made in this movement is called façon de Venise (French for "Venetian style"); the quality is typically rather lower than the Venetian originals, partly from difficulties sourcing the right materials, and the place of manufacture is often hard to discern. Engraved glass was a part of this diffusion, and initially was especially developed in Germany.[52]
Eventually, the dominance of cristallo came to an end. In 1673, English glass merchant
Napoleon conquered Venice during May 1797, and the Venetian Republic came to an end.[59] The fall of the Venetian Republic caused hard times for glassmaking in Murano, and some of the Murano methods became lost. Controlled by France and Austria, Venetian glassmaking became unprofitable because of tariffs and taxes—and glassmakers that survived were reduced to making mostly beads.[60] Napoleon closed the Venetian glass factories in 1807, although simple glassware and beadmaking continued.[61] In the 1830s, outsiders tried to revive the industry.[23] However, it was not until Venice became part of Italy in 1866 that Murano glassmaking could experience a revival.[60] Around that time, local leaders such as the mayor of Murano Antonio Colleoni and Abbot Vincenzo Zanetti (founder of the Murano Glass Museum), along with Murano manufacturers such as Fratelli Toso, began reinventing the earlier Murano techniques for making glass.[62] Antonio Salviati, a Venetian lawyer who gave up his profession in 1859 in order to devote his time to glassmaking, also had an important role in the revival of glassmaking in Murano.[63]
Making glass
From its beginning until the fall of the Venetian Republic, Murano glass was mostly a very high quality
The mixing and melting of the batch of ingredients was a two-stage process. First, nearly equal amounts of silica and flux were continuously stirred in a special furnace. The furnace was called a calchera furnace, and the mix was called fritta. In the second stage, the fritta was mixed with selected recycled waste glass (cullet) and melted in another furnace.[67] Depending on the type and color of glass, other additives were used. Lead and tin were added for white opaque glass (latimo). Cobalt was used for blue glass. Copper and iron were used for green and for various shades of green, blue, and yellow.[68] Manganese was used to remove colors.[69] Although natural gas is the furnace fuel of choice for glassmaking today, the fuel mandated in Murano during the 13th century was alder and willow wood.[5] During this second stage, the surface of the molten glass was skimmed to remove undesirable chemicals that affected the appearance of the glass.[67] Additional techniques were used as glassmaking evolved. To improve clarity, molten glass was put in water and then re-melted. Another technique was to purify the flux by boiling and filtering.[65]
Tools
The Venetian glassmakers had a set of tools that changed little for hundreds of years. A ferro sbuso, also called a canna da soffio, is the
Today
Some of Venice's historical glass factories in Murano remain well known brands today, including De Biasi, Gabbiani, Venini, Salviati, Barovier & Toso, Pauly, Berengo Studio, Seguso, Formia International, Simone Cenedese, Alessandro Mandruzzato, Vetreria Ducale, Estevan Rossetto 1950 and others. The oldest glass factory is Antica Vetreria Fratelli Toso, founded in 1854.[75]
Overall, the industry has been shrinking as demand has waned. Imitation works (recognizable by experts but not by the typical tourist) from Asia and Eastern Europe take an estimated 40 to 45 percent of the market for Murano glass, and public tastes have changed while the designs in Murano have largely stayed the same. To fight the imitation problem, a group of companies and concerned individuals created a trademark in 1994 that certifies that the product was made on Murano. By 2012, about 50 companies were using the Artistic Glass Murano® trademark of origin.[76]
Glassmaking is a difficult and uncomfortable profession, as glassmakers must work with a product heated to extremely high temperatures. Unlike 500 years ago, children of glassmakers do not enjoy any special privileges, extra wealth, or marriage into nobility. Today, it is difficult to recruit young glassmakers. Foreign imitations, and difficulty attracting young workers, caused the number of professional glassmakers in Murano to decrease from about 6,000 in 1990 to fewer than 1,000 by 2012.[76]
Alaska
In February 2021, Venetian glass
See also
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ There are two main theories about the beginning of Venetian glassmaking. One is that glassmaking began as glassmakers from Aquileia arrived after fleeing barbarian invasions during the fifth century.[2] A 19th-century author credits Italian writers Carlo Marin and the Count Filiasi for this idea.[3] Shotwell supports this theory and uses the year 450 as the approximate start date.[4] A second theory is that Venetian glassmaking developed from Venetian interaction and trade with the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean).[2] Janssens says that "similarities in techniques and forms between Venetian glass and Byzantine and Islamic glass are evident".[2]
- ^ The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is considered the birthplace of glassmaking. Glass was made there before 2000 B.C.[6] Glass was made in Syria as far back as 1700 B.C., and around 100 B.C. the Syrians started glassblowing.[7]
- ^ While the Murano glassmakers were typically men, records exist beginning in the 1400s of women working in the manufacture of glass in Murano. A record from 1446 describes the employment of a woman who decorated glass and worked for Salvatore Barovier.[9]
- ^ Dugan and Shotwell describe Murano as a group of small islands connected by bridges.[12][13] The official Murano glass shop says Murano is 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from Venice.[14]
- ^ In the 1540s, the Murano glassmakers were unhappy with the 35-week work year, complaining that they did not get enough time to work—contrary to typical complaints of too much work.[20]
- ^ At least three authors agree that Angelo Barovier died in 1460.[9][30] The date of his birth is less certain, but is said to be around 1400.[31]
- ^ Angelo Barovier is generally credited with creating cristallo, and was definitely making it in 1455.[34] One set of authors believes that cristallo was an incremental "development that stretched over nearly two centuries."[35] They speculate that Barovier perfected the soda ash purification process used for cristallo, and also discovered the stabilizer.[35]
- ^ Ferro sbuso comes from the Muranese language, where adding an "S" at the beginning of a noun (substantive) turns it into a verb or an adjective.[71]
Citations
- ^ Zerwick 1990, p. 49
- ^ a b c Janssens 2011, p. 520
- ^ Sauzay 1870, p. 20
- ^ a b Shotwell 2002, p. 586
- ^ a b Toso 2000, p. 25
- ^ Shotwell 2002, p. 343
- ^ Shotwell 2002, p. 546
- ^ a b Shotwell 2002, p. 587
- ^ a b c Toso 2000, p. 46
- ^ Shotwell 2002, pp. 586–587
- ^ United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce 1917, p. 789
- ^ Dugan 2019, p. 123
- ^ a b c d Shotwell 2002, p. 366
- ^ "Murano Island". MuranoGlassItaly. MuranoGlassItaly Store. 7 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
- ^ Zerwick 1990, pp. 49–50
- ^ Moore 1935, p. 31
- ^ Dillon 1907, p. 182
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 37
- ^ a b Toso 2000, p. 45
- ^ Moore 1935, p. 33
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 40
- ^ Geary 2008, p. 202
- ^ a b c "Ancient and Modern Venetian Glass of Murano". Harper's New Monthly Magazine. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1882-01-01. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
- ^ a b Shotwell 2002, p. 24
- ^ a b Toso 2000, p. 97
- ^ Zerwick 1990, pp. 50–51
- ^ Hess, Husband & J. Paul Getty Museum 1997, p. 90
- ^ Chambers et al. 1999, p. 21
- ^ McCray 2017, chapter 5 of e-book
- ^ Shotwell 2002, p. 30
- ^ a b Chambers et al. 1999, p. 22
- ^ Toso 2000, pp. 122–124
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 127
- ^ Moore 1935, p. 37
- ^ a b Syson & Thornton 2001, p. 186
- ^ a b c d Osborne, 398
- ^ Shotwell 2002, p. 110
- ^ Dillon 1907, p. 203
- ^ Page & Doménech 2004, p. 18
- ^ Hess, Husband & J. Paul Getty Museum 1997, p. 73
- ^ Shotwell 2002, p. 294
- ^ Fuga 2006, p. 257
- ^ Fuga 2006, p. 282
- ^ a b Shotwell 2002, p. 351
- ^ Moore 1935, p. 48
- ^ a b "1950s Glassware Reflects Distinct Era". Annapolis Capital. 1999-02-19. p. 123.
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 61
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 62
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 64
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 66
- ^ "Deconstructing Glass and Building up Shards at the Early Royal Society". Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
- ^ Battie & Cottle, 68, 71–77
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 102
- ^ Zerwick 1990, p. 65
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 103
- ^ a b c Toso 2000, p. 105
- ^ "European Glass in the J. Paul Getty Museum: Catalogue of the Collections". Archived from the original on 2023-09-15. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ Toso 2000, p. 109
- ^ Madden 2012, p. Ch. 17 of e-book
- ^ a b "Authenticity of Venetian Glass Sometimes Tough to Distinguish". Capital Entertainment (Annapolis, Maryland). 1998-09-11. p. 15.
- ^ "A Comparison of Earlier and Later Venetian Glass – A Question of Continuity". Corning Museum of Glass. Archived from the original on 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
- ^ "A Comparison of Earlier and Later Venetian Glass – A Question of Continuity". Corning Museum of Glass. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018.; Hilliard 2001, pp. 80–81
- ^ Edwards, Sommerfield & National Gallery of Victoria 1998, p. 150
- ^ a b Janssens 2011, p. 26
- ^ a b Janssens 2011, p. 528
- ^ a b Janssens 2011, p. 524
- ^ a b Janssens 2011, p. 523
- ^ Janssens 2011, pp. 531–532
- ^ Janssens 2011, p. 526
- ^ Mentasti 1997, p. 188
- ^ "The Glass Lexicon". Paul Engle (author of book Conciatore). Archived from the original on 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
- ^ Shotwell 2002, p. 48
- ^ Dorigato 2003, p. 31
- ^ "Tools of the Glassmaker". Corning Museum of Glass. Archived from the original on 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
- ^ Gable 2004, p. 44
- ^ a b Hooper, John (2012-01-30). "Glassmakers of Murano Fight to Survive Influx of Cheap Imitations". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ^ "Venetian Glass Beads Found in Arctic Alaska Predate Arrival of Columbus". Sci-News. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ Geggel, Laura (11 February 2021). "European beads found in Alaska predate Columbus, controversial study claims". livescience.com. Live Science. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
References
- Battie, David and Cottle, Simon, eds., Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Glass, 1991, Conran Octopus, ISBN 1850296545
- Chambers, Karen S.; Oldknow, Tina; Ft. Wayne Museum of Art; Tampa Museum of Art (1999). Clearly Inspired : Contemporary Glass and Its Origins. San Francisco: Pomegranate. p. 134. OCLC 1008387303.
- Dillon, Edward (1907). Glass. London: Methuen and Co. pp. 373. OCLC 1809307.
- Dorigato, Attilia (2003). Murano, Island of Glass. Arsenale Editrice (IT). OCLC 156146832.
- Dugan, James (2019). Capturing Venice. Walkabout photo guides.
- Edwards, Geoffery; Sommerfield, Garry; National Gallery of Victoria (1998). Art of Glass: Glass in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. South Melbourne: Macmillan. p. 208. OCLC 1008129059.
- Fuga, Antonella (2006). Artists' techniques and materials. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum. p. 384. OCLC 64486684.
- Gable, Carl I. (2004). Murano Magic: Complete Guide to Venetian Glass, Its History and Artists. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Pub. OCLC 53361383.
- Geary, Theresa Flores (2008). The Illustrated Bead Bible. New York: Sterling. ISBN 978-1-4027-2353-7.
- Hilliard, Elizabeth (2001). Chandeliers. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown. OCLC 48252389.
- Hess, Catherine; Husband, Timothy; J. Paul Getty Museum (1997). European Glass in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles: The Museum. OCLC 36549048.
- Janssens, Koen H. A. (2011). Modern Methods for Analyzing Archaeological and Historical Glass. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Inc. OCLC 1042124312.
- Madden, Thomas F. (2012). Venice: A New History. New York: Viking Penguin. ISBN 978-1-10160-113-6.
- McCray, W. Patrick (2017). Glassmaking in Renaissance Venice: The Fragile Craft. Taylor & Francis Ltd. ISBN 978-0-75460-050-3.
- Mentasti, Rosa Barovier (1997). Venetian Glass: 1890-1990. Venice: Arsenale Editrice. p. 207. OCLC 232969210.
- Moore, N. Hudson (1935). Old Glass – European and American. New York: Tudor Publishing Co. p. 394. OCLC 1189068.
- Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts, 1975, OUP, ISBN 0198661134
- Page, Jutta-Annette; Doménech, Ignasi (2004). Beyond Venice: Glass in Venetian Style, 1500-1750. New York: Corning Museum of Glass. p. 339. OCLC 55110404.
- Sauzay, Alexandre (1870). Marvels of Glass-Making in All Ages. London: S. Low, Son, and Marston. pp. 272. OCLC 5207106.
- Shotwell, David J. (2002). Glass A to Z. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. pp. 638. OCLC 440702171.
- Syson, Luke; Thornton, Dora (2001). Objects of Virtue : Art in Renaissance Italy. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum. p. 288. OCLC 264966212.
- Toso, Gianfranco (2000). Murano : A History of Glass. Antique Collectors Club Limited. p. 191. OCLC 449936626.
- United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce (1917). Commerce Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce. OCLC 16914088.
- Warmus, William; Oldknow, Tina (2020). Venice and American Studio Glass. Milan: Skira.
- Zerwick, Chloe (1990). A Short History of Glass. New York: H.N. Abrams in association with the Corning Museum of Glass. p. 112. OCLC 20220721.
Further reading
- Barovier, Marino; Sonego, Carla (2004). Venetian Art Glass: An American Collection, 1840-1970. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche. p. 352. OCLC 56447139.
- Heiremans, Marc (2002). Murano Glass: Themes and Variations. Stuttgart: Arnold. p. 223. OCLC 248786059.
- McFadden, David Revere; Barovier, Marino; Frantz, Susan K. (2001). Venetian Glass. New York: American Craft Museum. pp. 249. OCLC 123123380.
- Panini, Augusto (2017). The World in a Bead. The Murano Glass Museum's Collection. Antiga Edizioni. p. 375. OCLC 1001512112.
- Piña, Leslie (2004). Fratelli Toso: Italian Glass 1854-1980. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Shiffer Pub. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-76432-026-2.
- Piña, Leslie (2007). Archimede Seguso: Lace and Stone: Mid-Mod Glass from Murano. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Shiffer Pub. p. 223. OCLC 74029385.
- Sonego, Carla (2017). Paolo Venini and His Furnace. Milano: Skira Editore. p. 532. OCLC 1003587576.
External links
- A History of Murano Glass
- Corning Museum of Glass - The Rise of Venetian Glassmaking
- The Heart of Venice: International Competition for Ideas
- List of glass factories on Murano
- Muranoglass.com
- Murano Glass Museum (English language)
- Primary processing
- Promovetro Consortium
- YouTube Video: The art of Murano glass
- Murano glass in the 20th century
- Knowledge about original Murano glass, history, heritage, working technique
- Murano Glass tools