Artistic Venice - Day 2 - Venice, Italy
Venice, Italy
After a day of enticement and enchanting exploration, we approached Day 2 with enthusiasm and excitement. Our goal - to visit the island of Murano where we could drop into a glass blowing foundry to learn a little about the artisans who do the glass blowing that has been practiced for centuries in Venice. Catching the vaporetto to take us to Murano, we headed up one of the smaller canals towards the northern outskirts of Venice. As we left the city, the wooden pillions that guide all water traffic turned to the east. After 15 minutes of cruising and three stops at docks along the city outskirts, we turned and headed due north towards Isola di San Michele, the Venice Cemetery, and just beyond that, the island of Murano. Passing the San Michele, I learned that only citizens of Venice were allowed to be buried in this cemetery.
Along the way one of my questions about the essential services in Venice was answered. As we were cruising towards one of our stops, a very loud, piercing siren was heard coming from behind us. I turned in time to see an orange and yellow ambulance approaching us at a speed that belonged on a race course. As the driver screemed past us, it was quite amazing to note how sleek and compact this ambulance was compared to its North American counterpart. I am sure the functionality was probably not too different than what we would expect in our larger versions. The wake left by the ambulance was substantial and left smaller boats to fend for themselves.
Murano is made up of seven individual islands connected by a series of canals and bridges….just like Venice. Today, there are somewhere around 35 or 40 glass blowing foundries operating on the islands of Murano. As the story goes, the glass makers were moved from Venice around the end of the 13th Century for fear they might cause a fire that the mostly wooden city would not be able to sustain. The highly specialized techniques developed by the Venetian glass blowers, their highly valued skill set made these artisans amongst the leading members of the island society in the early years. Even the daughters of the glass makers were allowed to marry the "bluebloods" of the community. Since they were so revered and their expertise was so highly valued, they were not allowed to leave the island, over a period of time by punishment by death.
In the early days, they were the only people in Europe who knew how to make glass mirrors. Over time they increased their skills by gaining increased control over the colour and transparency of their glass products. The continued to master new decorative techniques such as creating glass with threads of gold, crystalline glass, milk glass and imitation gemstones made of glass. Their specialized expertise lasted for centuries and are still deployed in today's production processes. Over time some of the glass blowers gradually left homes in Venice and began to spread their expertise across Europe. This movement produced a skills transfer that eventually would come back to challenge the Venetian artisans for business.
In recent times, the industry in Venice has suffered due to the growth of glass blowing imitations coming out of Asia and Eastern Europe. Having said that, there is still a significant group of glass makers in Murano. Some of the existing brands in world today like Venini, Pauly and Seguso are still produced in the historical glass factories on Murano. To help with their brand protection, a certification program has been created to help establish the authenticity and ensure differentiation between the imitators and the Venetian products. Today, the Venetian artisans create a broad variety of products from the traditional mirrors and glassware to glass lampshades, chandeliers, glass beads and many items of glass jewelry.
Prior to our demonstration in one of the foundries, we toured the display rooms. Each foundry has multiple display rooms and often each room has its own theme. In the main showroom, a very extensive display of glass pottery, jewelry, glassware and trinkets illustrate the versatility of the glass makers. The room that blew me away was the room which contained chandeliers of every shape, size and color. The intricacy of the work to create a chandelier is beyond belief.One of the smaller, very beautiful chandeliers caught my eye and as I was examining the price tag (a mere $6K Euros) when Linda came along suggesting that it wouldn't fit in my luggage!! I don't think my bank account could accommodate it either! Oh well....
The glassblowing demonstration was simply amazing. The three men team worked closely together to complete a colorful lamp shade. They started with a molten ball of glass and through a series of rolling, stretching, twisting and heating, the ball began to take shape. While we were not provided with a detailed verbal explanation of the process, it was apparent that chemicals were added through the process to create the colors and patterns that resulted in a beautiful lamp. I found it interesting to note that the toolset used by these artists were not overly specialized….many of the tools being ones that you would find in most peoples home garage. What is fascinating is the fact that even today these highly specialized skills are passed down from generation to generation. There is no school for glassblowers. One thing is certain, you have to enjoy working around a lot of heat to do this job!! When the final product was hoisted up for the viewing audience it was impossible to believe that the finished lampshade started out as a small molten glass ball.
On our way back to Venice, our vaporetto took us around the north and eastern edge of Venice where we passed the hospital (Ospedale Santi Giovanni e Paolo), Bascilica di San Pietro, the naval military training station and then entered the Grand Canal near St Mark's Square. This 30 minute trip allowed us to completely circumnavigate the islands of Venice. We were able to see the outer edges of the city that are quite different from the tourist districts "in town". We jumped off our vaporetto at the Salute dock in front of the Bascilica Santa Maria della Salute. From here it was a short and interesting 15 minute walk to Peggy Guggenheim's museum.
Peggy Guggenheim was a wealthy American heiress whose father perished on the the Titanic. After many years of collecting art and opening art museums in London, England and New York, she eventually moved to Venice and purchased a remarkable property, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, on the Grand Canal between Bascillica Santa Maria di Salute and the Academia. This became the famous home to her substantial art collection. The collection is not only massive, but it includes some of the more representative pieces of modern art that is available to the public today. Somewhat eccentric, Peggy supported a variety of artists, enjoyed an exotic lifestyle collecting many men (in addition to art pieces) and built a reputation for having one of the most extensive American and European modern art collections in Europe. During her life in Venice, she was know for and owned 14 Lhasa Apsos dogs which would frequently travel with Peggy. When she passed away, Peggy was buried beside her beloved dogs in a quiet and pretty corner of her back yard.
Prior to her passing she made a decision to donate her home and her art collection to the Solomon R.Guggenheim Foundation. It remains in tact today as one of the most important museums in Italy.
Leaving the Guggenheim we walked down several shop laden streets towards Academia bridge. The Academia is one of the three major bridges that crosses the Grand Canal. Once over the Academia bridge we walked through the streets of San Marco District towards the Rialto Market in the San Polo District. Along the way we passed Santa Stefano church and San Salvador church, both large historical churches from the 14th and 15th Centuries, and their requisite court yards. Wandering through the medieval streets peeking into small boutiques and curios shops amongst which the Venetian mask shops are very prominent, is the very best way to see Venice. This enjoyable 50 minute adventure included crossing some 20+ bridges and canals on the way back to our apartment.
The joys of meandering, without much purpose, around artistic Venice are immense!