on friday i went with the kids from the other american university (drew, in new jersey) to visit murano. murano is a tiny island about 15 minutes north of venice by vaporetto (waterbus). it's famous for glassmaking, specifically lampworking, which basically uses a blowtorch to melt and then manipulate thin rods of glass.
murano's glassmakers were the first in all of europe to figure out how to make mirrors, and they held this monopoly by forbidding artisans to leave the venetian republic. hired assassins were even used to make sure the secrets wouldn't spread outside of this tiny island.
since i was lucky enough to tag along with drew's students, we got to see some behind-the-scenes stuff i'm sure i wouldn't have gotten to see otherwise. we went to the glassmaking school, abate zanetti, and saw a master blow glass and a woman do lampwork.
it was incredible! here are some of the photos i took:
this guy has been working with glass for forty years, and he's still an apprentice.
the process of becoming a master glassmaker is INSANE.
this is the master. he just took that glob of glass out of the furnace
(where it was chilling at 2900 degrees farhenheit)
and is rolling it on that marble slab to shape it a little.
now he's rolling it in yellow glass powder to color it.
the base color is clear; it's just orange-ish because it's super hot.
he kept blowtorching it while he was working so it would stay malleable.
these guys used this torch without any eye protection or gloves or anything.
because they're italian. and badass.
makin' it into a vase. he put the black stripe on by pouring molten black glass
onto the vase while the apprentice fried the shit out of everything with the torch.
then he put it into this furnace, which is comparably nippy
at only 1200 degrees fahrenheit, to slowly bring it down to room temperature.
it stayed in here for two full days.
next we saw this woman do some lampworking.
here she's softening some glass rods in front of a blowtorch that's
mounted on her desk. look at how close she is to that thing!
she shaped the stuff she was making by using the solid ends of the rods,
some giant tweezer things, and a couple long needley things.
it was so amazing to watch.
here she is putting the finishing touches on a candy she made
by blowing a tiny clear glass ball, like a bubble, and affixing green
glass to the sides. the thing in her left hand is what she used to hold the glass
while shaping it, and the thing in her right hand is a pair of tweezers.
this is one of the things she made. it took, seriously, less than twenty minutes.
apparently dolphins are a signature murano figurine.
this was so little; it fit in the palm of my hand.
this little genie is a pendant. there's a hook in the top of his
turban to hang him on a necklace. i love his tiny earrings!
and, finally, this is the bear she made for the kids from drew.
see his tiny "D' t-shirt?
this guy was the smallest, probably about 2.5 inches tall.
it was so incredible to watch these people at work. their jobs are UNBELIEVABLE!
the process of becoming a master glassmaker is INSANE.
this is the master. he just took that glob of glass out of the furnace(where it was chilling at 2900 degrees farhenheit)
and is rolling it on that marble slab to shape it a little.
now he's rolling it in yellow glass powder to color it.the base color is clear; it's just orange-ish because it's super hot.
he kept blowtorching it while he was working so it would stay malleable.these guys used this torch without any eye protection or gloves or anything.
because they're italian. and badass.
makin' it into a vase. he put the black stripe on by pouring molten black glassonto the vase while the apprentice fried the shit out of everything with the torch.
then he put it into this furnace, which is comparably nippyat only 1200 degrees fahrenheit, to slowly bring it down to room temperature.
it stayed in here for two full days.
next we saw this woman do some lampworking.
here she's softening some glass rods in front of a blowtorch that'smounted on her desk. look at how close she is to that thing!
she shaped the stuff she was making by using the solid ends of the rods,some giant tweezer things, and a couple long needley things.
it was so amazing to watch.
here she is putting the finishing touches on a candy she madeby blowing a tiny clear glass ball, like a bubble, and affixing green
glass to the sides. the thing in her left hand is what she used to hold the glass
while shaping it, and the thing in her right hand is a pair of tweezers.
this is one of the things she made. it took, seriously, less than twenty minutes.apparently dolphins are a signature murano figurine.
this was so little; it fit in the palm of my hand.
this little genie is a pendant. there's a hook in the top of histurban to hang him on a necklace. i love his tiny earrings!
and, finally, this is the bear she made for the kids from drew.see his tiny "D' t-shirt?
this guy was the smallest, probably about 2.5 inches tall.
it was so incredible to watch these people at work. their jobs are UNBELIEVABLE!
