We learned how the glass is modelled and blown, in order to become a proper masterpiece. A really unique and unforgettable experience: a disclosure of this Venetian art as we had never seen it before.
The tradition for the manufacturing of this material really falls back into the past: it dates back to the XVI century, when the master glass-workers dedicated themselves to honing the shapes of the already existent glass objects. Light, fully coloured and simply beautiful, they embellished the tables of the aristocrats of that time.
But how is the glass actually being worked? This fascinating material is made of a mixture of silica and sodium carbonate to which the craftsmen add stabilisers, pigments or mattifying substances. All the components melt together at a really high temperature; try to think about it: at around 1400º! There are then two different techniques for working the glass: the ‘perle a lume’ handled with a blowtorch and the ‘impronta’ handled with a stick.
Fancy a small, yet precious piece of advice? Go and get yourself lost among the alleys of Murano.
