10th Century Venetian Glass

Origin

• Venetian glass, today called Murano glass, has a history going back centuries. The traditional glassmaking technique is complex and meticulous, involving high temperatures to melt the molten glass so it can be shaped and layered. Among the more popular forms of Venetian glass were the thin, transparent cristallo (crystalline) glass, smalto (enamelled glass used in tile mosaics), aventurine (glass containing threads or specks of gold), multicolored millefiori glass and lattimo, an opaque white glass commonly called milk glass.

History

• Founded in the the fifth century, Venice was one of Europe's most important maritime cities by the 10th century. It was during this century that the city also earned a reputation for producing what is now called Murano glass. The earliest historical record relating to Venetian glassmaking is a document from A.D. 982 that references a monk named Domenico, who worked as a glassblower on the small island of Murano. A few centuries later, all Venetian glassmakers were relocated to Murano, in 1291, due to fears that the wood-fired kilns used to heat the molten glass posed a fire hazard for the city's wooden buildings.

Process

• Glassmaking in 10th-century Venice was a painstaking, meticulous process in which wood-fired kilns were heated to the high temperatures required to convert silica into molten glass. While cooling, the malleable glass was then shaped and worked by the artisan with a few rudimentary tools. During this process, glassmakers would often add a variety of additional raw materials to the glass to produce different effects in the finished product. Sodium, for example, was added to turn glass opaque, while arsenic and nitrate would eliminate bubbles. Other materials were added to produced different textures and colors.

Murano Glass

• Using similar techniques to those used thousands of years ago, modern-day Murano glass factories produce numerous types of decorative glass objects. These include Venini lamps and ashtrays, tableware, vases, plates, chandeliers and art glass. Murano glass is also used in jewelry, such as "la murrina," a thin, round colored-glass pendant with a spiral or floral pattern imbued within in the glass.