Murano glass

The first documental evidence we have mentioning Murano glass working dates from 982 AD, However archaeological digs have brought to light fragments indicating that the activity was practised in the 7th century on both Torcello and Murano. It was not until the 12th century, however, that it started to be an organised manufacturing business.

In the same period, the activity gradually concentrated on the island of Murano, before becoming exclusively dedicated to the purpose when, in 1291, the Republic decreed that all glassworks were to be transferred there for safety reasons. As the fire risk was too high, a single flame would have been enough to destroy the city, which was built mainly of wood. In the same year, Burano became the heart of the Republic of Venice’s glass making sector, whose product were exported world-wide: France, United Kingdom, Flanders, Northern Europe, Eastern Mediterranean.

The first preventionist measures were adopted: glassblowers who left the city were not allowed to practice their craft again when they returned and no instrument or product needed to work glass could be taken out of the city, which shows a great fear of competition. Glassblowing consolidated its position during the 15th century, to the point that the master glassblowers became very rich and well-considered even by the aristocracy.

In the mid-1400s, Angelo Barovier made his discovery of fundamental importance, crystalline glass, a perfectly colourless and transparent glass. Angelo understood that the impurities in the raw material made the glass opaque and therefore invented a complex procedure for purifying it to obtain very pure glass. It was this discovery that decreed Murano glass’ worldwide success.

During the 1500s, exports were sent to Turkey and the Americas and in Europe Murano glass became a niche product for a lucky few. The era’s great artists included it in their paintings (the Veronese vase is thus called because it appears in Paolo Veronese’s Annunciation). Despite the stringent prevention measures, many master glass blowers left Murano to make their fortune elsewhere and the Venetian style therefore spread across Europe. During the 1600s, in line with the Baroque style, Murano’s glassworks produced pieces with increasingly complex and unusual shapes.

However, the 17th century was also one of crisis, as in the 1620 the plague decimated the population of Venice and the lagoon. This was followed by a famine that also made it difficult to come by the necessary raw materials, which posed a hindrance to glass production and in 1628, all the glassworks closed for the year (unfortunately some never re-opened). For Murano, the situation became even direr due to two other productions that were enjoying success across Europe: Bohemian and English crystal.

During the 18th century, this competition grew and the Republic of Venice was forced to ban imports of all foreign products into Venice to stem the crisis. At the end of the Republic in 1797, following the takeover of Napoleon’s troops, Murano experienced a further bleak period that worsened further under the domain of the Austro-Hungarian empire, which imposed heavy duties on products from Murano to favour Austrian and Bohemian crystal.

It was only towards the end of the 19th century that there were the first signs of a rebirth thanks above all to the rediscovery of certain kinds of glass and the foundation of a number of historical glassworks (such as Fratelli Toso and Salviati). One symbol of this rebirth was the Glass Museum, which was founded in 1862 thanks above all to the mayor of Murano Antonio Colleoni and the abbot Vincenzo Zanetti. In addition to the museum, a school was also founded with the aim of providing specific theoretical and practical training to all those who wished to learn the art of glassblowing. In 1864 the First Muranese Glass Exhibition was set up.

Starting from the first decade of the 20th century, the history of glassmaking reached an authentic turning point: master glassblowers started to work together with other professional figures for the design and production of their articles and started a profitable partnership with designers, sculptors and Art Directors. The acclaim achieved by Italian design in the 1950s further contributed to the growth and diffusion of the Murano glass culture that attracted the attention of the 1900s’ biggest names in art (including Calder, Moore, Fontana, Guttuso, Le Corbusier, etc.).

The art of Muranese glass blowing is still upheld by the historical glassworks and new masters who with great ability, combine the observance of traditions with the innovative spirit of contemporary designers and artists.