The earliest evidence of glassmaking in Venice is from AD 982. Fragments of Murano-made glass date from the 13th century. In 1291 the demolition of all glass kilns in Venice was ordered due to the risk of fire with all the wood buildings. From then on, Murano was the main center of glass manufacture in the Venetian Empire. Being on a separate island protected the buildings of Venice plus the secrets of glassmaking. Originally mosaic glass was made on Murano, developing then to glass vases, goblets, sculptures and beads. The glass of Murano from the 19th and 20th centuries was embellished with filigree and adventurine, dragons, swans, serpents, storks and flowers, in a distinctive style.
My class was six days long with Lucio Bubacco and his Scuola Bubacco. Lucio makes artistic compositions of glass – not beads but whole structures which can sell upwards of $2000. As his website (www.luciobubacco.com) says: “Lucio Bubacco’s sensuous works combine the anatomic perfection of Greek sculpture with the Byzantine gothic architecture of his native Venice. Seductive themes, metamorphosis and transformation, forms emerging from the void, echo themes from our mythological past when sexuality was spiritual, not political.” Lucio is really a glass maestro. He only uses a rod of glass, a marver and the torch; figures just dance out of the flame! It is amazing and inspiring to watch him work. The class featured the art of figurative work which is all off the mandrel. Since this was a new concept for me my figures are in the “developing” stage but I learned control in the flame.
Life in Murano
Everything goes by water in Murano and Venice; it reminded me of Beaver Island. Most people who visit Venice only go over to Murano for a few hours, with their eye on the clock and the timetable for the vaporettos back to Venice. I was living on Murano for about three weeks, with a little side trip to Florence and Tuscany, which gave me a glimpse into the rhythm of Murano (yes, I have been back!). There is an invisible side of Murano with furnaces that the public cannot visit, the people that you usually don’t meet and some little shops that you may not have time to visit. Glassmaking on Murano is more than a job; it is a passion that absorbs the glassmaker’s lives.