A Visit to Murano- glass and more glass

Monday October 5 was another beautiful day.  High of 23C.  Ever since reading The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier, a wonderful 2024 historical novel that spans over five centuries of glassmaking on Murano, I have wanted to visit the island.  The protagonist is the eldest daughter in a family of glassmakers, who learns to make glass beads in secret as women were not allowed to work in glass in the 15th century.

Murano is only about a 20 minute vaporetto ride from the closest vaporetto stop to our apartment. We have found out that while a single ride is 9.50 euros for non-residents, Venetians only pay 1.50 euros per ride. There are somewhat less expensive three or four day passes, but we did not use a vaporetto every day of our trip, so it was not worth it for us.  There is a 75 minute period for free transfers after an initial ticket purchase.

Mutano has a population of just over 5000. It was initially settled by the Romans.  In 1291, all the glassmakers in Venice were required to move to Murano.  Exports began in the following century and the island became famous, initially for glass beads and mirrors.  For a while Murano was the producer of glass in Europe.  Although decline set in during the eighteenth century, glassmaking is still the island's main industry.

Friends had just visited the Museo del Vetro (Glass Museum) and we decided to start our journey there.  The vaporetto dropped us at the Museo stop.

Arriving in Murano

Walking to the Museo--- lots of very old wonderful buildings 

Outside of the Museo housed in the large Palazzo Giustinian

The Murano Glass Museum was founded in 1869. The building had originally been built in the flamboyant Gothic style as a patrician's palace.  It became the residence of Bishop Marco Giustinian in 1659 who later bought the property and donated it to his diocese.  Extensive rebuilding took place and ceiling frescoes were installed.  In 1840, the palace was sold to the Murano Municipality and it became the town hall.  In 1861, the nucleus of the museum was housed in the central room on the first floor.  In 1923, when the Murano Municipality joined Venice, the museum came under the management of the Fondazione Musei Civici de Venezia, its current operator.

Entry hall in the museum

We checked out the lovely garden area first which had some older statutes, parts of ancient walls and a large modern glass piece.

Modern glass structure in the garden

The central room on the first floor had a large chandelier which had been presented at the first Murano Exposition of 1864, where it won the gold medal.  The ceiling had a fresco by Francesco Zugno (1709-1789).

Magnificent chandeliers and ceiling fresco.

Barovier cup- Blue blown glass painted with polychrome enamels and gold. Venice, 1460-1470.

Jugs made of blown crystal decorated with gold leaf and enamels. Venice, beginning of XVI century.

Filigree glass, realized working with wires (crystal wands with a white enamel wire inside), Venice, second half of XVI century- beginning of XVII century.

Each room had beautiful Murano chandeliers and painted ceilings

There was a write up about the history of glass which spans more than four thousand years.  An ancient legend has it created by chance along the sandy banks of a river in Syria. There are other theories.  However, it was the Romans who gave new life to glass production.  

One room had very old glass dating back to the first and fourth centuries AD.

The Golden Age of Venetian glass ran from the 14th to the 17th century.  The art of Venetian glass was the result of very close ties with the Middle East, Syria in particular, whose elegant glass work was renowned in the Middle Ages.  It was copied by the first Venetian glass makers.  By the14th century, there were at least 12 glassworks that were producing everyday objects. In the middle of the 14th century, Venice became the unrivalled leader in the art of glass.  A decisive factor was the invention of clear glass by Angelo Barovier (1405-1460), from Murano.  In the 16th century, glass production became more elaborate.

Vase in transparent and blue mould-blown glass, Murano, Fratelli Toso, c.1928

Chrystal stem glasses, Venice, end of XVI century-beginning of XVII century.

Lamps or containers for drinking and pouring liquids in animal shaped blown glass, Venice XVII century.

Chalcedony glass of XIX century, Lorenzo Radi, junior, 1880
(he donated a large number of objects to the newly founded museum).

Centrepiece designed like an Italian garden with fountains, arches, pots with flowers, flower beds- 18th century. These centrepieces, also known as 'deseri' enjoyed enormous popularity during the 18th century.  The glassmaker Giuseppe Briati created fine examples which adorned the Doge's tables.

There was a write-up about Venetian beads, which were first produced in the 14th century.  These were invaluable items in trade and exportation with Africa, the Americas and India.  Venetian beads can either be conteria (seed beads), rosetta (chevron beads) or a luma (lamp-worked beads). Chevron beads were invented in the 15th century by Marietta Barovier, Angelo's daughter.  It was noted that Murano women often worked in the bead sector.

The lampwork beads, the type made by the protagonist in The Glassmaker.
The ones pictured were from the early 19th century.

Portrait of Napoleon III, 1862

Another beautiful chandelier and displays of glass

The museum dealt with the darkest period for the Murano glass industry.  Following the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, the city entered the darkest chapter in its history.  Venice passed to Austrian control in October 1797 and in 1806, it was incorporated into Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, only to return to Habsburg rule in 1814.  Venice regained its independence only in 1866, when together with the rest of Veneto, it joined the Kingdom of Italy.

The glass industry was one of the hardest hit sectors.  Under Napoleon, the historic glassmakers' guild was abolished.  The Austrian administration imposed heavy duties on imported raw materials and the export of finished goods.  The European nobility turned to Bohemian and English crystal.  Only the manufacture of glass beads thrived during these difficult times.

However, the industry began to revive from 1850-1895 and again became the centre of artistic glass.

The museum had many examples of the creativity of the glassmakers during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Large goblet with crystal cover and a rosette stem.

Ewer in straw-coloured glass with gold leaf, 1881

Alonso checking out the glass- another elaborate ceiling

Turquoise vases with polychrome patches and gold leaf, Francesco Ferro & Figlio, 1875-1878

Vases in blown glass with aquamarine-smoked, straw coloured- orange, smoked- amethyst grafts.  c. 1970

Jolanda Prinsen, Forbidden Garden, 2025

There was also a room discussing the uniqueness of Murano Glass. Since antiquity, Venice had identified the island of Murano as the exclusive site for glassmaking.  However, it was in 1291 that the Serenissima Republic officially decreed that all glassworks must be located exclusively on Murano- effectively creating the first industrial district in history.  Later, it was mandated that only those born in Murano could work in the sector.  Each family specialized in a particular artistic technique, the manufacture of specific products, or the ancillary services supporting the production process, always jealously guarding their recipes from one generation to the next.  

There was an entire room showcasing amazing works by Marco Toso Borella (1962, Murano), who was also featured in a video describing his technique.  He came from a glassmaking family, and from an early age demonstrated a talent for drawing.  As a teenager, he spent his summer holidays working in several glass factories, learning from the ground up.  He spent years researching the origins of Murano and the history of the Toso Borella family.  The name Borella was tied to the branch of the Toso family that specialised in decorating cups and glassware using the ancient artistic technique of graffito on gold leaf. 

He revitalised the ancient family technique and over more than 40 years of his career he developed a number of innovative techniques.  Since 2022, a number of his pieces have been on permanent display at the Museum.  Marco Toso Borella has been dubbed by the press as "Leonardo Da Vinci of Venice" as he is also a singer, arranger and choir director, the author of novels, historical essays and theatrical works.  He is the founder and director of two celebrated choral ensembles.  A real renaissance man!

Marco Toso Borella, Le Due Torri, 2026

Babel, 2026, Murano Glass Gold Graffito 3D

Evolution of Idealicaro, Marco Taso Borella, 2026---
the video showed the steps Taso Borella took in making his pieces.

We had a very interesting visit to the Murano Glass Museum.  Fascinating history and incredible innovation and creativity throughout the centuries.  We then started to walk down the main street along the canal, checking out small stores along the way.  There was a mix of very touristy stores and then some clearly more high end glass stores.  There were also a number of restaurants and cafés on both sides of the canal.  Lots of bridges to go from one side to another.

View of one side of canal

Lovely chandelier in the window of the Seaweed Artstudio, which had not yet opened.
The glassmaker is David Penso. 

Alonso bought a T-shirt with this design from the glassmaker's son in another store just down the street.   He told us that his father and a brother were both glassmakers.  He was busy with other ventures.

Slightly leading tower.

We stopped at Vetrata Bar for a coffee and some cecchetti for lunch.   Both were excellent.

Getting our cod, shrimp and octopus cecchetti ready

Alonso getting ready to have his snacks.

Next we went to an amazing exhibition entitled: Glasstress 2026.  It was the ninth edition of the exhibition organized by the Fondazione Berengo.  The exhibition featured work by over 60 artists.  Some of the artists designed pieces that were then made by the Fondazione Berengo glassmakers.  

We recognized  a number of the artists, including Ai Wei Wei, Judy Chicago and Jaume Plensa.  We had fortunately read about the exhibit in the Venice Airport magazine.  The exhibition was held in two iconic venues---a former glass foundry in Murano, home to the Fondazione Berengo Art Space and the sixteenth century Palazzo  Ca' Tron in the city of Venice.  We ended up going to both venues

The write-up sets the framework for the exhibition: "For nearly two decades, Glasstress has challenged perceptions of glass as a medium for contemporary art.  Conceived in 2009 by Adriano Berengo, founder of the creative glass furnace Berengo Studio, the biennial exhibition was established to bring together the extraordinary range and diversity of contemporary artists working with glass.  Glasstress 2026 presents more than 50 artworks by artists from around the world in ambitious new commissions and collaborations. More than 20 artists, through their collaboration with the master glassmakers at Berengo Studio have worked with glass for the very first time.  The exhibition reaffirms glass not simply as a medium of extraordinary expressive potential, but as one of the most dynamic and continually evolving languages of contemporary art".  There was not a theme for the exhibit.  Some pieces were abstract, others joyful and some were political.  All reflected a high degree of artistry and skill.

Poster and write-up for the Exhibition

List of artists from all over the world

Sean Scully, Untitled, Glass 2026.

Tony Cragg, Leaderser, Glass, 2025

Raed Yassin, Family of Tears, Glass, 2026.  Yassin is a Lebanese artist.  'The work stands for all those affected by conflict, the figures of father, mother, and child united in their grief, their eyes literally standing on columns of handblown glass tears.'

David S. Eley, Watermark A Good Nose- distilling the light of Venice, 

Alonso knows

The exhibition space in the former foundry was spectacular.  There was a main room with a high wooden ceiling and parts of furnaces.  There were also some additional rooms and a second floor with the artworks.

Main Room

Part of the old furnaces in the main room

Moi and the fishes

Jaume Plensa, Untitled, Cast Glass, 2026.   There is a large plaster piece of his in downtown Toronto.  He worked with the Berengo glassmakers to create his vision in glass.

Ai Weiwei, White Chandelier, Glass, 2011.

Shan Shan Scheming, Paradise Chandelier, Glass, 2022-23.

Alonso in the middle of the piece

Oda Jaune, Corpus Lucis, Blown glass, metal, LED, 2026

Cornelia Parker, The Arnolfini Portrait (Once Removed) 2023 and Ghost Slippers (from Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait), Cast glass, 2026

I got the original Jan Van Eyck 1434 picture from the internet-- the slippers are on the left and the chandelier with the one lit candle in the background---the two pieces the artist rendered in glass.

Qi Zhou, Bubble Game- Budaoweng (Roly-Poly Figure), Glass, Ceramic 2024

Judy Chicago, Glass Goddess, Cast Glass, 2026

Marin Janecký, Dialog, Glass, 2025.  One of our favourite pieces.

We talked to the woman who was working in the gallery who was wearing one white and one black Prada shoe and dressed very cooly.  She talked about some of the pieces with us and then offered to show us where they made them. We could take pictures in one smaller storage room but not in the large area where they were working.  She explained that a number of the artists sketched out what they wanted done and then they were produced by a number of methods by the Berengo team.

Gallerist

This was a piece by Ai Wei Wei still being worked on in the storage room--
incredible skeleton and skull features

It was a wonderful exhibit.  The owner was also there and greeted us.  The gallerist urged us to go and see the other part of the exhibition.  She told us how to get there by vaparetto.  It was open until 7:00 p.m. so we would have time to visit.

We wandered some more in Murano and just missed visiting a jewellery store owned by the two Sent sisters whose jewellery I had purchased in Venice in 2012.  It had just closed at 5:00 p.m. even though the website had said it would be open until 6:00 p.m. 

More Murano

Another photo

We headed back to the city on one vaporetto and then transferred to another to take us to the other side of the Grand Canal.  

Waiting a few minutes for the second vaporetto- just needed to go one stop across the water.  
The light in Venice is magical.

It was then only a five minute walk to Ca' Tron, the site of the second part of Glasstress.

Outside of  Ca' Tron with the exhibition.

The inside of the Palazzo was very large and there were two floors of the glass pieces.

The main exhibition room- there were additional rooms on the main floor
and a second floor with more pieces. This piece was by Gelatin, mi riiordo di te, Glass, Wood, Steel, 2026.

Jan Fabre, The Pacifier, Glass, 2026

Monica Bonvicini, Suspended Study, Cast Glass, 2023

Martin Janecký, Dreamer, Glass, 2026

Wael Shawky, Untitled, Glass, 2026

Gelatin, nullo somno, Glass, Wood, Steel, 2026

In the background is Tony Cragg, Elements, Glass, 2026. We are looking at Gelatin, non sta sera, tesoro, Glass, Wood, Steel, 2026.

Josepha Gash-Muche, The Head (Homage to Wilhelm Lehmbruck), Aluminium, Liquid Crystal Display (LDC), Glass, Corten steel stele, 2026

Karen LaMonte, Reclining Lucent 1, Cast Glass

View out of gallery to the canal

Video of Ai Wei Wei and glassmaker

View from the second floor

Attempt at a selfie

Monica Al Qadiri, Ghost of the Future, Glass, 2026

Fariba Ferdosi, X-Ray-Me (Myself), Glass, 2025.  The only piece with an artist statement:
The glass suitcase, titled Myself, is the central sculpture of the X-RAY_ME project and was exhibited at Malpensa Airport from December 10, 2025.  Shortly afterward, a mass protest in Iran was violently suppressed, resulting in thousands of deaths, and on February 28, 2026, U.S. airstrikes began.  Around the same time, I received the news that my suitcase had been deliberately damaged.  When I went to retrieve it to bring it to Venice, I found it broken-just like me. I chose to exhibit it in this condition because that fragility is a testimony.  Surrounded by flawless artworks, my suitcase reveals itself through its wounds and imperfections."\

Marya Kazoun, Untitled, Glass, 2026. Kazoun is a Lebanese-Canadian artist. The magazine article noted that the cast glass landscape addresses Israel's ongoing blockade of aid trucks from entering Gaza.

Maria Roosen, Ruby & Friso, Mirrored glass, Friso Kramer chair, 2025.  
Incredible display room in the Palazzo.

Erwin Wurm, Mind Bubbles, Glass, 2026.

Cornelia Parker, Raised Fists (Full of Glass), Cast Glass, 2026.  
We saw a model for this piece in the Murano workspace.

Massimiliano, Doriana & Lavinia Fuksas, No Space, No Time. Glass, 2026

Glasstress was one of the most incredible glass exhibitions we have ever seen.  Definitely worth visiting both sites.  Another reason to return to Venice in 2028!

We started our walk back to the apartment.  One of the gallery staff had recommended a restaurant en route, but it was fully reserved.  We decided to have some cecchetti at a buzzy place we had passed in a nearby square.  It was a nice spot to eat outside and people watch.

S. Giovanni Vini e Chicchetti--- I had a very nice Select Spritz

Some of our cecchetti--- the shrimp with caramelised onions was very good
as was the cod with tomato sauce

Venice is magical at night.

We took this picture of the hospital (the large white building) from a small bridge we were crossing. 

The hospital and Basilica just a few minutes from the apartment

We really enjoyed our day in Murano and the GlassStress exhibits in both the Murano and Venice locations.

We head to Verona on Tuesday October 6.