Murano Glass

In 1291, the Maggior Consiglio (Venetian government) decreed that all the glass furnaces had to be moved from the city of Venice proper onto the island of Murano, because of the fire hazard to a city built of wood. More politically astute observers note that the consolidation of all glassblowers on a small island allowed the government to better oversee and manage its monopoly on the profitable industry.

Realizing that the glassblower's secret techniques were prestigious and one of the underpinnings of the local economy, the Republic further tightened its control by issuing an edict forbidding glassblowers to practice their craft in other countries. To insure that the maestri's secrets were never revealed, harsh sentences were meted out to individuals who leaked secrets to foreigners or left Venice without official permission. At the time it was rumored that the Maggior Consiglio even hired assassins to capture or kill artisans who left the island.

Gloassary

A Ghiaccio "Ice"

Hot glass is submerged in cold water creating a finely crackled surface.

Incamiciato

A multilayered glass technique. Colored or pasta vitrea glass is encased in a final cristallo or transparent colored layer. First developed in the 1920's.

Inciso "Incision"

A thin line scored into the glass by a grinding wheel.

Inclamo

Fusing together many different colored glass pieces while pliable, and then forming them into a single object.

Iridato

Glass which achieves a thin iridescent coating due to the exposure to the gaseous vapors of a metal, usually tin or titanium. Other metals which form an oxide on the surface of the hot glass can also be used.

Lattimo

Opaque white or colored glass.

Massiccio

A technique in which large or heavy objects are created without blowing because the molten glass is too heavy and dense. The glass is shaped, molded or formed while hot.

Millefiori "A thousand flowers"

Lattimo glass decorated with murrine and often encased in a layer of clear or tinted glass. One of the oldest techniques that is still very popular today.

However, the close eye kept on Murano and its artists had unforeseen positive consequences. By artificially concentrating the entire glass blowing industry on a small island, it inadvertently intensified the level of competition between maestri; as a result the quality of glass was dramatically refined, and new techniques and ideas rapidly disseminated throughout the island