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HISTORY OF MURANO GLASS
Venice
is world renowned for the magnificent, colorful Murano glass. It has been widely used in beaded jewelry design for centuries. The
name Murano comes from the name of the archipelago outside of Venice
where the glass is actually made.
Like the city of Venice itself,
the production of Murano glass has had a colorful (pun intended) and
turbulent history with pronounced ups and downs. Historians
can find documents that attest to the presence of the art of glass
making in the city of Venice even during its earliest periods of
existence.
Initially, the glass production was limited to low
quality, easy-to-make items. The quality of items kept on improving
as Venetian merchant fleet made increasing contacts with Muslim
civilizations that possessed considerable expertise in this area.
As
the time passed by, the Venetian glass craftsmen were becoming increasingly capable but
it was not until the period after the fall of Constantinople
in 1204 that they could be really called world class.
Among the
things that Crusaders "brought" back to Venice after the
conquest of the city was also the expert knowledge of the glass
making process.
Armed with this new technical knowledge, the
Venetian craftsmen perfected their glass making methods, and
dramatically boosted their production capacity. In the year of 1291, the local lawmakers ordered the move of production facilities to Murano out of fear of fire.
After
the move to Murano was finalized, Venetian glass makers were able to
successfully guard their knowledge from everybody, and made Venice
the undisputed glass making capital of the known world for the next
300 years.
During this time, they made a number of breakthroughs
when it comes to glass production processes. One of such notable
advances was the Cristallo glass (crystal); a thin, translucent glass
used to make the type of drinking glasses and vases that we are used
to today. There was simply nothing like it being made in other parts
of Europe at that time.
By
the end of the 16th century, glass making in
Venice was on the decline and a number of Venetian glass craftsmen moved to other
cities in Europe in order to find gainful employment in their trade. Soon
after, rival glass making centers started to appear in other
parts of Europe, and they became more formidable by every passing
day. However, the
worst was yet to come for the Venetian glass industry...
The
Venetian glass industry went through its darkest period in history
when Venice was ruled by the Habsburg Empire from 1814 to 1866. The
glass production in Murano became politically inappropriate and was
discouraged by the authorities. Many production facilities shut down
permanently.
The industry's revival coincided with the end of the
Habsburg rule and the union of the Veneto region with the newly unified Italian
state in 1866. Old glass making techniques got revisited, and the production
capacity was ramped up relatively quickly. Soon after, the glass produced by
the masters of Murano started to regain its old reputation. Today, a
Murano glass product is still typically recognized as being the pinnacle of
glass making expertise.
Related pages:
Murano Glass Jewelry
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