Craftsmen not only make utensils needed for daily life, but also some glass mosaics, large sculptures and works imitating jewelry with tool decoration properties have appeared one after another. What is more likely to surprise modern people is that the glass beads made at that time were used as currency, which was the currency of Venetian merchants when they traded with Africans and Asians. Murano's exquisite workmanship is regarded as a national treasure by the Venetian government, and the technology produced is also regarded as a "state secret"; Whoever dares to give this secret to foreigners will die. It is also because of the peak of glass manufacturing technology. Murano's glass-making masters are not as free as today's masters. They are not allowed to move at will, and those who leave Murano without government approval will be severely punished.
/kloc-in the 0/3rd century, not only the technology of making glass is mature, but also the tools for making glass are finalized. Even today, the owners of Murano Island sometimes use tools developed by their ancestors in the13rd century. In addition, a glass trade guild was established at that time, which stipulated in detail the rights and obligations of workshop owners, masters and apprentices.
In the tradition of Murano, the master in the glass workshop plays the most important role. In medieval feudal society, the social classes of master and workshop owner belonged to the same class, and they were often related.
Since13rd century, many descendants of glass-making families have still settled in Murano, because of the close family relationship and the concept of moving to another place.
Since13rd century, there has been no school in Murano to teach glass making skills, and the teaching of glass making skills has always relied on traditional word of mouth. If a person wants to engage in this line, when he is a teenager (sometimes eleven or twelve years old), he will go to the workshop as an apprentice and assist the master; Only when everyone is resting and stopping work can the apprentice have a chance to explore by himself by the fireside. Some people say that the whole of Murano is actually a big school. The second peak of glass production in Murano appeared in the mid-15th century. The starting point is the crystal glass invented by the master Angelo Baroville; The composition of crystal glass is sodium, not all the potassium in Bohemia or the lead used by the British later. The appearance of crystal not only makes the glass products more exquisite and bright, but also gives the master more time to deal with the glass materials that are not easy to cool, so as to make more exquisite and complicated finished products. In addition to crystal glass, other glass materials of various materials have mushroomed, and different glass materials have their own characteristics, giving the owner more space to sway the glass. The main products of this period were goblets, holy grails for religious ceremonies, and various utensils and bottles. The appearance of these works, under the ingenious thinking of the master, is amazing!
/kloc-Murano gained a lot in glass manufacturing technology in the 6th century. Before the 15th century, many glass manufacturing technologies originated from metal processing. But in the middle and early sixteenth century. Master Murano creatively developed many new technologies. One of the new technologies "filigrana" is to decorate glass products with thin lines that look like lace. Complex patterns beyond ordinary people's imagination increase the beauty and complexity of glass products; Another technology is to soak the hot glass that has not been completely solidified in the cold water in the product, so that the surface of the glass will have a cracking effect and increase the change and expression ability of the glass works. The extensive application of carving technology also began from this period. All these can enrich the tradition of Murano and make Murano's glass works more exquisite and elegant.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Murano stood on the original basis and moved on. Various transparent or opaque glass raw materials have been developed, and the master's ingenuity has remained unchanged. In addition, influenced by Baroque, Rococo and Bohemian glass carving techniques, Murano's glass production tends to be gorgeous and ingenious, which is different from the original style of focusing on lines and elegance. This can be seen from the production of crystal lighting.
Murano's nightmare is coming 1779. That year, the Republic of Venice collapsed and the French army invaded; The political and military changes have made Venice depressed, and the whole of Murano has not been spared, and the survival of the glass tradition is in jeopardy. /kloc-Murano at the beginning of 0/9th century can be said to be in its twilight years, with glass-making technology retreating instead of advancing, and its works are also lacking. This depressed situation lasted until the middle of19th century. /kloc-In the mid-9th century, the political situation was slightly stable, and the glass industry in Murano sprouted again, and traditional families making glass, such as Baroville and Ferro, came into being. Seguso and Tuosuode stood up again.
Their intention is to restore the tradition of Murano and retrieve the original skills of their ancestors, which is the focus of their efforts. In addition, Vincenzo Moreti rediscovered the technique of making glass mosaics in ancient Rome, and carried this technique forward and applied it to modern modeling works, which had a great influence on the glass making style in this period. The third peak in Murano began in the middle of the 20th century. In the tradition of Murano, the master once played the role of the axis, but the appearance of vittorio Zeqin further moved this tradition. Zeqin himself is not a master, but a painter and designer. The glass production process he developed is that the designer designs the blueprint first, and then the master completes it. In this production process, the designer may not be present, so the master still has considerable space to decide the final style of the work. Zecchin brought Murano not only the change of artificial technology and concept, but also the change of production style; Under his influence, Murano's tradition tends to be retro, and striving for simple and elegant style is the characteristic of his works at that time. During this period, there appeared many talents in glass making, such as carlo scarpa, Elkolle Baroville, Napoleon E Martinuzzi and flavio Polly.
After Zeqin, it was Nuno Viriato Tavares de Melo Egídio Stanti who injected fresh water into Murano. What costantini did in 1950s was to actively match the cooperation between artists and Murano. This work was carried out by Zecchin, but it was carried forward by costantini. Thanks to costantini's efforts, internationally renowned artists have set foot in glass art work. It turns out that the glass industry has a strong scientific and technological component. Traditionally, artists do not use glass as a medium of artistic expression. However, due to costantini's efforts to borrow the east wind from artists, glass technology has been developed in another village. At that time, artists involved in glass design included Picasso, British sculptor henry moore, cubist master, Xia, and others. Generally speaking, these artists put forward ideas and blueprints, and then give them to Murano's studio to complete. The artist himself did not personally go to the workshop to communicate with the master. Although this mode of cooperation has brought new opportunities to Murano tradition, it also has its shortcomings. His shortcomings are: the artist's mastery of glass materials is not authentic, so the patterns they painstakingly designed may not be produced by Master Murano; In the absence of the artist, the master had to deal with the artist's ideas according to his own meaning!
In view of the lack of the above-mentioned production process, it is now more popular for artists or designers to go to the scene to communicate face to face with the masters, and Adriano Berengo is one of the outstanding artists in this creation. Master Murano benefited the most from the cooperation between art designers and masters. On the one hand, you can get the stimulation of artists-some artists know nothing about glass-on the other hand, you can try all possible developments of traditional crafts. After the dominance changed hands briefly, Master Murano regained the position of leading beam with their intelligence; Archimedes Seguso and Alfredo Barbini started it, and Lino Talia Pitra continued it. In recent ten years, Murano's glorious tradition has shown signs of growing prosperity with the vigorous economic development. At the invitation of American glass artists, Murano's masters also came out of Murano to spread their skills to the new world. In recent years, Dale Hu Li, an American master of glass art, spoke highly of Murano's craftsmanship, believing that the rapid progress of American glass art was partly attributed to Murano's stunts.
The legend of Murano will continue in the foreseeable future. Such a place, with such a rich historical tradition, can make new breakthroughs. Murano, thoroughly remoulded without losing its true colors, is a wonderful work in the craft field!