Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Venetian Artistry
Glass
Venetians have been working in crystal and glass since the 10th century, though fire
hazards prompted the move of the city's furnaces to Murano in the 13th century. Trade
secrets were so closely guarded that any glass-worker who left the city was considered
guilty of treason. By the 15th century Murano glass-makers were setting standards
that couldn't be equalled anywhere in the world. They monopolised the manufacture
of mirrors for centuries, and in the 17th century their skill at producing jewel-bright
crystal led to a ban on the production of false gems out of glass. For a short course in
Murano's masterly skill, head to the
Museo del Vetro
(
Click here
).
Today, along Murano's Fondamenta dei Vetrai, centuries of tradition are upheld in
Cesare Toffolo's winged goblets and Davide Penso's lampworked glass beads, while
striking modern glass designs by Nason Moretti at ElleElle, Marina e Susanna Sent
and Venini keep the tradition moving forward.
Paper
Embossing and marbling began in the 14th century as part of Venice's burgeoning
publishing industry, but these bookbinding techniques and
ebru
(Turkish marbled pa-
per) endpapers have taken on lives of their own. Artisan Rosanna Corrò of Cárte uses
bookbinding techniques to create marbled, book-bound handbags and even furniture,
while Cartavenezia turns hand-pulped paper into embossed friezes and free-form
lamps. Gianni Basso uses 18th-century book symbols to make letter-pressed business
cards with old-world flair, and you can watch a Heidelberg press in action at
Veneziastampa, churning out menus and ex-libris (bookplates).
Textiles
Anything that stands still long enough in this city is liable to end up swagged, tas-
selled and upholstered. Venetian lace was a fashion must for centuries as Burano's
Lace Museum
(
Click here
) attests, and Bevilacqua still weaves luxe tapestries (and
donates scraps to nonprofit Banco Lotto 10 to turn into La Fenice costumes and hand-
bags).
