Venetian Glass

Venetian glass has been made for over 1,500 years, and 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 first major glassmaking center.

The Venetian glassmakers of Murano are known for many innovations and refinements to glassmaking. Among them are Murano chandeliers and mirrors. Additional refinements or creations are goldstone, multicolored glass, and imitation gemstones made of glass. In addition to guarding their secret processes and glass recipes, Venetian/Murano glassmakers strived for beauty with their glass.

The art of glass-making

This glass is made from silica, soda, lime and potassium melted together in a special furnace at a temperature of 1500°C to reach a liquid state. Gold or silver foil are often added to the glass mixture, along with such minerals as copper for sparkles, zinc for white color, cobalt for blue, manganese for violet, and so on.

The mixture is then mouth-blown or hand-crafted by master glassmakers using special techniques and basic tools, many of which have been developed in the Middle Ages and changed little since then.

This method of glass-making results in unique creations with rich coloring and beautiful, sometimes surreal, patterns and shapes, deserving to be called “works of art”.