American artist Charles Frederick Ulrich (1858–1908) was inspired to paint this scene of Muranese glassblowers around 1886 after he visited the island of Murano in the Venetian Lagoon of Italy. Murano’s glass industry has truly ancient roots, reaching back over a millennium to the time of the Roman Empire. In that era, Murano and the other islands of the Venetian Lagoon were seen as safe havens for refugees, and Romans fled to the islands when waves of chaos and bloodshed ravaged the Italian mainland. It was that crucible of war and conflict that set the settlement of the Venetian islands in motion and shaped the Venetian culture for industry, commerce, and glassmaking.
King Alaric of the Visigoths invaded Italy in 401 and sacked the city of Rome in 410. The Huns began attacking the Romans around a decade later, when the leader, Rua (also known as Ruga), invaded the region of Thrace in 422 and imposed extortionary tribute payments in exchange for peace. Rua’s nephew, Attila amped up the Hun war efforts, eviscerating the Balkan and Greek regions of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 440s. Attila then turned his ire to the Western Roman Empire, invading Gaul (France) in 451 and Italy in 452. The threat of the Huns prompted many people in the cities around the Gulf of Venice to flee to the islands of the Venetian Lagoon, where major settlement and development began in the 5th century.
A renewed wave of settlement occurred a century later, when King Alboin of the Lombards (r. 560s-572) invaded Italy in 568. The Emperors of Constantinople recognized Venice as a strategic defensive position in their war against the Lombards, and Byzantine forces (as well as accompanying priests, craftsmen, and camp followers) were stationed on the islands of the lagoon by the 7th century. Murano, like many of the other islands of the lagoon, saw settlement in this chaotic period between the 5th and 7th centuries. Notably, the inhabitants of the Venetian Lagoon quickly took to glassmaking, as, according to archaeological evidence, there was a noticeable glass industry in the region as early as the 6th or 7th century.
In the following centuries, Venice achieved autonomy and relative independence (although they remained titularly under Constantinople’s control) during the complicated political power shifts between Constantinople’s Byzantine Empire and Charlemagne’s ascendant Frankish empire (which set the seeds for the Kingdoms of France and Italy, and the Germanic Holy Roman Empire). The time period was made all the more tumultuous by Norman invasions of Italy, and especially the era of the Crusades (1095-1291). It was an age rife for opportunism and dealmaking, and the Venetians excelled at both. During that time of war and chaos, Venice became a dominant sea power in the Mediterranean, setting up a network of trade ports that crossed international boundaries and generated incredible wealth for Venetian merchants.
Although glassmakers had been present in the Venetian Lagoon since the 6th or 7th century, a major turning point for the Venetian glass industry was the 13th century. A catalyst may have been Venice’s role in the Fourth Crusade, when the Venetians and Crusaders captured the imperial city of Constantinople in 1204. During the looting of the great city and the aftermath of the war, the Venetians seized Byzantine glass techniques and brought imperial glassworkers back to Venice. Amid this influx of glass production, a Venetian glassblower guild was formed around 1224, and a decision was subsequently made to move and consolidate the glassblowing workshops to the island of Murano in 1291. The glassblowers embraced ancient glass styles, such as the murrine (mosaic) and millefiori (thousand flower) techniques. In the following centuries, Muranese glassblowers innovated and made new discoveries. Notably, Angelo Barovier (1405-1460) invented a method to produce clear cristallo glass. The 15th century also saw the advent of the aventurine technique (clear glass with metallic powder or particles), as well as the marbled and stone-like calcedonio glass. In the 16th century, advances in glass engraving were achieved, and it was also in that century that the filigrana technique (often mislabeled as latticino or latticinio in the English language market) was created, in which glass canes or threads are arranged to make complex patterns. Murano’s glassmakers found that there was a high demand in Europe for their glass products, and the Venetian trade network was readily available to facilitate the commerce.
Murano reached a peak in glass production in the 16th century, when the glassworker community on the island was reportedly more than 30,000 people strong. Yet, with so many people aware of Murano’s trade secrets, the industry became susceptible to state and corporate espionage. During the course of the 16th century, many other major European powers managed to acquire Murano’s techniques and were able to produce their own Venetian-styled glass. By the 18th century, major Murano masters, themselves, were leaving their island to set up shop in other countries. With the loss of the monopoly on their techniques and the departure of some master glassblowers, the Venetian and Muranese glass industry experienced a lull in popularity, which negatively impacted Muranese business, morale, and enthusiasm.
At the turn of the 18th century into the 19th century, Venice was in crisis—both economically and geopolitically. Economically, the Muranese glassblowers had not yet adjusted to the reality of vibrant foreign competition and a reduction in demand for Venetian glass. Geopolitically, it was the time when post-Revolution France was at war with the rest of Europe, and Venice became embroiled in the conflicts. Amid the fighting, France and Austria arranged for Venice to be placed under Austrian control in the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio. Following this treaty, Napoleon became First Consul (r. 1799–1804) and then Emperor of France (r. 1804–1814/15). Later, the Prussians forced Austria to finally cede Venice to the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. Fittingly, this reunification of Venice with Italy also coincided with a growing mid-century revival for the glassmakers on Murano.
Major players in the revival at that time were the Salviati, Barovier and Toso families. Of these names, the first to start their business was the Toso clan, with Angelo, Carlo, Ferdinando, Giovanni, Gregorio and Liberato Toso founding their Fratelli Toso company in 1854. Their financial needs were met by creating bottles and pieces for lighting fixtures (like chandeliers and candelabras), but they were also known to produce award-winning glass art that they displayed at exhibitions. A few years later, Antonio Salviati (1816-1890), a lawyer who was struck by a passion for glassmaking, formed a company called Salviati Dott. Antonio fu Bartolomeo in 1859 with the prominent glassmaker Lorenzo Radi (who had previously rediscovered how to produce calcedonio glass in 1856). This would be the first of many iterations of the Salviati & C. (or Salviati & Co.) business. Notably, it was also around this same span of time that the Murano Glass Museum was founded in 1861 by Antonio Colleoni (1811-1855) and Abbot Vincenzo Zanetti (1824-1883). They also set up a school for glassblowing in 1862.
Antonio Salviati was an excellent marketer and salesman. On the one hand, he achieved prestigious contracts, such as his company’s manufacturing of a Last Supper mosaic for the high altar of Westminster Abbey between 1867-1873, but, on the other hand, he also pushed his company toward a mass-production model catered to more affordable glass products. Around the time of the Westminster Abbey project, Antonio Salviati partnered with English investors, notably Sir Austen Henry Layard (c. 1817-1894), and they created another company called Societá Anonima per Azioni Salviati & C. in 1866. The name of that business was changed to The Venice & Murano Glass & Mosaic Company Limited (Salviati & C.) in 1872, but there were growing tensions between the English and Italian partners.
Meanwhile, around the same time, the Fratelli Toso company, began leaning more into art glass and won their first gold medal at the 1864 Murano Glass Exhibition (their first of many), and acquired a deal that same year to create reproductions of historical Venetian Renaissance art based on the Murano Museum collection. As Fratelli Toso continued to win gold medals at other expos every year or so (1867, 1868, 1869, 1872…), Antonio Salviati was navigating himself into new business deals. The growing disagreements with his English investors prompted Antonio Salviati to depart from the English-backed iteration of Salviati & Co. Upon this break-up in 1877, Sir Layard founded Compagnia Venezia-Murano (CVM), whereas Antonio Salviati created a new Salviati & C. (for mosaics and retail), and another Salviati Dott. Antonio company for glassblowing and the production of art glass and glassware. The Barovier glassblowing family was involved in the founding and operations of the Salviati Dott. Antonio company, and Antonio Salviati sold that portion of the business to the Barovier family around 1883. Per contract, the Barovier-owned Salviati Dott. Antonio glassblowing operation was to keep its name (until after Antonio’s death), and the Baroviers would supply glass to Antonio Salviati’s Salviati & C. mosaic and retail company. Salviati & C. also contracted with the Fratelli Toso company to supply Salviati & C. with murrine technique glass in the 1890s. After Antonio Salviati’s death in 1890, the Barovier family would eventually change the name of the Salviati Dott. Antonio operation to Artisti Barovier, which would evolve into the modern Barovier & Toso company.
Such is the history that Charles Frederick Ulrich walked into when he visited the island of Murano around 1886. He arrived about three years after the Barovier purchase of the Salviati Dott. Antonio company. Unfortunately, Ulrich did not clearly define which glass companies he visited, or the specific workshops that inspired his painting. Given the date, it would have likely been a workshop associated with Salviati & C., Salviati Dott. Antonio, or Fratelli Toso. Whatever the case, the American painter was inspired by the family aspect of the Muranese glass community. He emphasized this familial scene by depicting men and women of all ages and generations in his painting.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Italian Glass: Century 20, by Leslie Piña. Published by Schiffer Publishing, 2003.
- Fratelli Toso: Italian Glass 1854-1980, by Leslie Piña. Published by Schiffer Publishing, 2004.
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