Venice, Murano - Venetian Bead Shop Blog

Ultimate Fall 2026 Color Inspiration: Murano Glass Beads

Fall/Winter 2026 Jewelry Colors: A Murano Glass Bead Guide

Each season brings new color inspiration, and Fall/Winter 2026–2027 offers a beautiful combination of expressive brights, rich earth tones, and calming shades inspired by nature. This year, we are particularly excited about the striking contrast between vibrant hues and the grounding tones that reflect the changing landscape during these months. In this blog, we explore ten leading colors from the season’s fashion forecast and interpret them through authentic Venetian and Murano glass beads, emphasizing the unique craftsmanship that goes into each piece. For each color, we have selected handmade beads that capture its character—not as exact standardized color matches, but as artistic interpretations brought to life through transparent and opaque Murano glass, 24-karat gold foil, sterling silver foil, and traditional Venetian glassmaking techniques. The interplay of these materials not only enhances the colors but also adds depth and texture, making them truly stand out. Click any featured bead photograph to visit its product page, learn more about the inspiration behind each selection, and shop the color for your next jewelry design, ensuring that your creations are as vibrant and dynamic as the season itself.

Taupe and topaz create a warm, versatile color story inspired by natural stone, amber light and the softly weathered architecture of Venice. Taupe provides a calm, earthy neutral, while transparent topaz adds golden-brown depth and warmth. In Murano glass, these colors pair beautifully with 24kt gold foil, avventurina, ivory, chocolate brown and rich autumn reds.

Burnt Olive, Green Envy & Acacia

Rooted in nature yet distinctly modern, Burnt Olive, Green Envy, and Acacia create a sophisticated progression of greens for Fall 2026. Burnt Olive brings an earthy, grounded depth with its muted olive undertones, while Green Envy introduces a fresher, more energetic yellow-green. Acacia completes the palette with a bright, luminous chartreuse that adds an unexpected spark. Together, these shades move beautifully from subdued and organic to vivid and contemporary, making them especially striking when translated into Murano Glass, where transparent color, gold foil, and avventurina can add even greater depth and brilliance.

Vibrant yet beautifully feminine, Festival Fuchsia and Foxglove bring warmth and energy to the Fall 2026 palette. Festival Fuchsia is bold, saturated, and exuberant—a rich jewel-like pink that immediately commands attention. Foxglove softens the story with a dusty, romantic rose pink that feels elegant and refined. Together, they create a wonderful balance of dramatic color and gentle sophistication, especially beautiful in Murano Glass where transparent pinks, gold foil, silver foil, and delicate Fiorato details can bring these shades to life.

Make the Fall 2026 Colors Your Own

These Murano Glass beads are just a few examples of how you can bring the colors of Fall 2026 into your jewelry designs. Use them as inspiration rather than rules—mix the season’s rich earth tones, sophisticated greens, vibrant pinks, ocean-inspired blues and warm neutrals with beads you already love. Add the shimmer of 24kt gold foil, sterling silver foil or avventurina, introduce the delicate flowers of Fiorato and Millefiori, or combine transparent and opaque glass for greater depth and contrast. With thousands of colors, shapes and styles of authentic Murano Glass to choose from, the possibilities extend far beyond the examples shown here. Choose the colors that speak to you, experiment with unexpected combinations, and make the Fall 2026 palette entirely your own.

Carnevale Venice 2026 – Its a Wrap!

2026 Carnevale of Venice, costumes and events

The theme for Carnevale 2026 in Venice was the Olympics, the Winter Olympics being held almost simultaneously in nearby Cortina. From the opening of the Carnevale along the Grand Canal, the costumes repeat the pageantry of the Olympics.

This year’s Carnevale has been anything but normal. Piazza San Marco has experienced high water on almost all days. Fortunately, the high tides only last for a few hours. But when these come during the planned events it makes life difficult. Imagine spending hundreds (and even into thousands) on your costume, only to have to wade in water.

I can only compare this to the marvelous experience of 2015 when we had beautiful sunny days followed by acqua alta and SNOW. Snow turns everything in Venice into a magical kingdom. But when you step onto the snow and your boots sink through into water. It does make walking (and not falling into the canal) a bit of a challenge. To remember this great Carnevale, read our old blog:

High Water, Snow and Carnevale #Venice

Here are some scenes from the 2026 Carnevale. It gives you a true impression of what happens, the beautifully dressed strolling around the Piazza and along the small streets with locals going about their daily routine and tourist dress in their carnevale costumes.

Today is the end of Carnevale and is known as Martedì Grasso (Fat Tuesday) and the presentation of La Marie ‘The Festa delle Marie‘ (Festival of the Marys) is one of Venice’s oldest traditions. Today, it serves as a central historical reenactment of the Venice Carnival. The Carnevale ends with the singing of the anthem of the Republic shown here from 2019. The Venetians sing along making it quite unforgettable.

Historical Origins (943–973 AD)

The festival originates from two intertwined traditions:

The Collective Wedding: In early Venice, a communal wedding for betrothed couples was held annually on January 31st (the feast of St. Mark) at the Basilica of San Pietro di Castello.
The Pirate Kidnapping: According to legend, in either 943 or 973 AD, Istrian or Dalmatian pirates raided the ceremony and kidnapped twelve young brides along with their dowries.
The Rescue: Led by Doge Pietro Candiano III, a group of Venetian citizens (specifically the cabinet makers or casselleri) pursued the pirates, killed them, and rescued the women.

Evolution and Traditions

To commemorate the victory, the Republic instituted the “Festa delle Marie”:

Patronage: Every February 2nd, the state and wealthy patrician families “adopted” twelve beautiful but poor Venetian girls, providing them with magnificent clothes, jewelry, and a rich bridal dowry.
The Parade: The “Marie” were paraded through the city and along the Grand Canal in a triumph of costumes and boats, ending with a visit to the Church of Santa Maria Formosa.
“Maria de Tola”: Over time, the high costs and public disorder led authorities to replace the real girls with wooden statues (Marione). This was so unpopular that citizens threw vegetables at the figures, leading to the term “Maria de Tola” (Wooden Mary), which remains a Venetian slang term for a woman with a flat chest.

The festival was cancelled in 1379 during the War of Chioggia (la Serenissima and Chioggia) but was officially restored in 1999.

Marie of the Year: The festivities culminate in the election of the “Marie of the Year” (Maria dell’anno) at Teatro La Fenice, who then performs the “Flight of the Angel” in the following year’s Carnival. The Maria of 2026 is Martine Diop Bullo, an 18 year old from Mestre on the mainland. She will receive a Seguso Vetri d’Arte glass creation and, most significantly, will earn the honor of performing the “Flight of the Angel” (Il Volo dell’Angelo) from St. Mark’s Bell Tower during the 2027 Venice Carnival.

The Contest: In the modern version, twelve young Venetian women (aged 18–28) are selected to participate in a series of parades and events and the chosen Maria is presented in Piazza San Marco

Giorgio Giuma – Where Imagination Has No Limits

Giorgio Giuma Maestro of Murano in Sculptures and Wax Cating

Giorgio is not a glass artist in the traditional sense, though he possesses the ability to make ordinary vases, animals and figurines you find all over Murano. Giorgio’s talent lies in making the extraordinary. In his vision, Cinderella doesn’t have only glass shoes, but Cinderella has a Glass Castle and he boasts an entirely glass Greek Temple. He works both traditionally (with the blow pipe) for his animals, dragons and chandeliers.

He uses lost was casting for a variety of pieces of art. Lost wax kiln casting is a versatile method for making glass pieces in almost any form imaginable. The process involves creating a refractory mold around a wax model. The wax is then removed—or “lost”—creating a cavity. Glass is cast into the cavity, resulting in a fully sculptural finished piece.

His work shop covers a rambling acreage on the island of Serenella in the Murano islands bringing his ideas to life away from the busy tourist paths of Murano. It also includes fruit trees and bees. Inside, the workshop is a glimpse into the mind of a true artist. He is a large, gentle Muranese who speaks in a soft voice and loves discussing his art. He is not involved in the “tourist” furnaces and works in the background. He creates glass pieces for the who’s who of fashion and is the go-to for large pieces like this.

The Greek Temple is about 5 feet tall. In the forefront, you can see other projects evolving. The flowers are pieces of a chandelier, while the blue mold appears to be a soccer field.

His lost wax casting is used in the creating of glass Red Square. Here you can see the evolution of his creation with the small version and to the right the wax for the casting of Red Square, Moscow. Behind on the shelves are previous projects and ideas for the future.

And yes, the cluttered background is typical of all production furnaces. 50+ years of tools and moulds are on the shelves. The knowledge of how to make the glass is in his head. The ingredients are seen here in the sleds of sand and soda. And at one point, he takes a blow pipe to one of the furnaces and shows me his pride, his incredible red – a blood red!

The furnace stays on 24/7 to maintain the glass at the correct temperature. Pots of colors are in the smaller furnace door.

The fixtures on the left are annealing ovens. The number of them gives you an idea of the number of workers Giuma had in the past as does the quantity of blow pipes surrounding the furnace. Blow pipes are used to make hollow glass articles like vases, bowls and bottles. While the Pontil (Punt, Punty Rod) is a long rod used when sculpting animals and also to transfer a blown piece to the annealing oven. Some of the items made on the end of the punty are shown

I am always in awe of the artistry of the Murano Glass Maestri, their imagination, their ability to turn an idea into a sculpture, a castle makes you believe in magic! And Giuma makes the magic come to life!

For more of his work and his unique story, visit his website Giorgio Giuma

A Tribute to my Mentor in Murano

He was unbendable, determined, hard-headed and above all a family man. His love of glass was only surpassed by his love for Valeria, his wife.

We met in San Francisco in the 90s through the Italian Trade Commission which sponsored a group of 20 or so furnaces from Murano who came to a small trade show. We were already importing Murano Glass, but this was an opportunity to meet more glass artists. We loved what we saw, bought all their samples and invited the entire group to dinner in San Francisco to show them a little of “our” city. That night we closed the Buena Vista but not before our friends had sung their favorite Venetian songs in dialect and sealed a friendship that endured. And as luck would have it, he was President of the Association that promoted the glass in Murano. He introduced us to other furnaces, the famous MACEF show in Milano, bead makers, shipping experts and tools designers.

So for about 20 years our number one restaurant was at his house in Murano with our families around the table (no matter how many we were there was always room) and his wife Valeria cooking. And oh my she could cook. In the summer there was a small cottage out back to escape the heat and a grill fish because when you live on an island, you eat fish!

Franco was born in Murano in the years between World War I and II and began working in the furnace as a young boy, never finishing school. After World War II, with so many of the men lost, he had to work to help support his family. This was the experience of so many during this period.

He met his wife Valeria when she was 13 (she was from a different parish in Murano) and they were engaged for years as he refused to marry until he bought a house for her and owned his own furnace. They both worked, he in furnaces and she in furnace that made smalti (mosaic) tiles. They saved their money. His determination and single focus never swayed. He was controversial, opinionated and his fellow furnace owners and bead makers lined up either loving or loathing him.

Either way, my political capital on the island went up when I walked home with him for lunch, or attended official Venetian functions with him, because Valeria had long tired of these events (and I absolutely drank in every moment of being surrounded by glass blowers). No one doubted my seriousness as a buyer when they saw us together. In those days, it was difficult for an American to establish a bank account. But not if your friend was on the Board of Directors of the local bank.

He schooled me in glass, in the politics of the island and in family life in Murano. As the “reigning” head of the glass workers, he was the Solomon to whom everyone brought their grievances. I have listened as he reasoned with drunken husbands, unhappy spouses, mis-understandings between local companies, unpaid debts and perceived wrong doings. And yet, when it was over, he never said a word, never repeated a accusation.

He never stepped foot in a bar on the island (except for the restaurant he owned with his children). But he enjoyed a good bottle of Valpolicella and great grappa, which we drank every night for good health. I can attest to its value to a cough or cold.

When I studied glass blowing in the US, he was the first to invite me (a woman) to work in his furnace, schooling me in the ways of the furnace and the Muranese terminology. His generosity in sharing the workings of a furnace, from putting the ingredients in the pot, to making zanfirico was a privilege few people outside of Venice ever have. When we traveled as we did every August when he and Valeria visited with us in California. We stopped at every glass shop, gazed at every chandelier – and the talk was always glass. And everywhere we went, the glassblowers were thrilled to meet him and asked him to blow glass with them and nothing could have made him happier.

He dearly loved to drive (a special treat for someone living on an island where there are NO cars) with his Mercedes parked at the airport in Venice, we traveled the back roads of the Veneto. He loved showing us “his” Italy. He introduced us to his friends, we spent weekends exploring the Alta Adige, Asiago staying in their cabin or staying with friends on their farms, picking cherries, playing cards and eating the fresh pasta that had laid on the dining room table of the farm house the day before to dry.

In the US he absolutely loved driving on our freeways – it’s how I learned so much Muranese (the local dialect) as it became important to be able to get the point across quickly and accurately. He spend several August vacations with us and we toured the California, Nevada and the southwest, and in the Christmas holidays, we explored Hawaii and Florida. We celebrated New Years in Las Vegas at the Venetian, of course where he was distraught to learn not one of the gondolieri spoke Italian.

He was world traveled, an avid reader with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. And despite his limited formal education he was knowledgeable in politics, history, art and, of course, glass. He was responsible for the installation of a furnace in the Venetian Casino in Macau demonstrating the techniques of glass blowing.

He was President of the Abate Zanetti (school of glass) in Murano. He created a course to accommodate locals who needed to work and could only attend in the mornings. He was my entry to all of Murano, walking home with his from the furnace gave me instant credibility. We called him the Godfather of Murano as he settled arguments, dealt with family crises and above all promoted Murano Glass.

But he was also stubborn, we argued over dinner, over the phone and around the world together. Rarely did I win an argument-usually only when his wife, Valeria interceded!

3 Days in Paradise – Venice

What to do if you have only 3 days in Venice, from the moment you arrive at the airport or the train station or Piazzale Roma. The tips I use to buy my vaporetto pass, book my visits to the Basilica San Marco (because no matter how many times I go to Venice, I always visit the Basilica). How to get a skip-the-line pass to the Museums and why you need the Museum pass.

Then there are some of my favorite bars (not the same as the US, a bar is just where we all grab a coffee – or something stronger if you need it) and a tramezzini (a cute triangle shaped sandwich minus the crusts), a cheese toast or a quick snack. There are also my favorite pasticceria. I make no apologies, Dal Mas is my absolute favorite. And wait until you see how fast they can make a fantastic cappuccino while they work around each other and the pastry chef delivering hot delicious goodies. It is a ballet in motion.

The kindle version is available for free and the paperback, easy to pack is available on Amazon Books now: The ASIN is: B0CVVQYWQ4 or you can click on this link: https://a.co/d/hfULsmn

My hope is that when you go to Venice, you spend your time like I do, just wandering around. The best times of day are the early morning and late at night when there are few tourist (sorry no offense). Also the lighting and colors change over the day so these are the best time for making pictures.

Please learn a bit of Italian. It will serve you well. The locals will appreciate your attempt even if you slaughter the language. After all they have tolerated me for 30+ years.

Murano – Glass Island & Italy Magazine

We just wrote an article for Italy Magazine, the online magazine is a great source of news for Italy and what is going on.

You can read the entire story here:

https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/brief-history-murano-glass-told-expert

It is an online magazine that you can subscribe to for free and enjoy stories of all the regions of Italy, places to visit, history of the area. And for me above all are the beautiful photographs.

And read Brenda’s article on her view of the history of Murano and the issues of today. Visit our website to browse our Murano Glass Home Decor

400% Price Increase of Methane (Gas) is Threatening Murano Glass Furnaces

The latest crisis facing Murano furnaces is the exorbitant increase in Methane prices. Methane is the gas used to melt the sand into glass in most of the furnaces in Murano. It is piped under the lagoon directly to Murano.

The latest is a double whammy occurring on the tails of the shut-down for COVID. During 2019, 3+ months of complete lock-down where residents were only allowed outside their house for essential services, grocery shopping, visits to the doctor or the pharmacy. No workers were allowed inside the furnaces. During this time we were fortunate to have a few bead makers who work from their home and could continue making beads.

Tourism died as travel to Italy was not allowed. In fact it was only in the summer of 2021 that US residents were welcomed and then only those vaccinated and with negative Covid tests. Tourist from other reciprocal countries in the European Union were allowed earlier as was the travel between regions in Italy.

But Murano doesn’t receive a lot of money from the Italian tourist, for the most part, the Italian tourist is just on a day outing, perhaps buying lunch at a restaurant, but rarely large works of glass art. The same is true from EU tourist who arrive in the summer holidays with their families, often camping at Jesolo, across the lagoon spending much of their time on the sunny beaches.

The tourist who are apt to purchase at the “glass factories” arrived in the past on tours by large tour companies, like Trafalgar, or other organized tours which included visits to various furnaces, especially a tourist furnace on the Island of Giudecca where the tourist were shuttled by boat from Tronchetto directly there. Tourist were also sent by hotels to specific furnaces where the furnace agreed to pay a fee for delivery. This so-called free taxi to Murano often backfired on tourist who didn’t get the point that in return for delivering them to the furnaces, the furnaces expected them to purchase (and not 10 Euro items). So sometimes these tourist found themselves learning public transportation to return to Venice.

Just as the furnaces were seeing an increase in tourist and sales, the news of the increase in gas prices has skyrocketed, from 0.23 cents to 0.90. A surge of 400%. Consider that the furnaces burn 24 hours a day otherwise the costly crucible inside the ovens will break a broken crucible cost about $2,300 US.

A medium-size glassblowing business consumes ~12,000 cubic meters (420,000 cubic feet) of methane a month to keep seven furnaces glowing at temperatures over 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) 24 hours a day.

Monthly bills normally range from 11,000 to 13,000 euros ($12,700 to $15,000) a month, on a fixed-price contract that expired on Sept. 30, 2021. Now exposed to market volatility, an increase is projected in methane costs to 60,000 euros ($70,000).

And even those furnaces who are lucky enough to have volume orders from shops, markets abroad are now facing a certain loss on orders they are working to fill as they have already negotiated prices for the orders and those prices did not include this unexpected increase.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT OUR BEADS?

Unfortunately, this increase in gas prices will manifest itself two ways in our beads. First, the furnace that produces all the glass canes our bead makers uses volumes of gas to keep its furnace glowing with each batch of just one color being about 250 Kilo (~500 Pounds). This furnace provides glass canes to the world. More importantly, it provides all the canes to our bead makers.

The Second Increase

Then, the torches (canello) that the bead makers use all are powered by gas. So they too are experiencing a huge increase each time they replace their cylinders of gas.

The Confartigianto, the artisan association has pleaded to government in Rome to assist in negotiating better rates with the alternative that an artist craft active in Murano since 1291 will be in peril. Even now, furnaces are being leveled and hotels rising up. One of the latest to fall to the hotel industry is the old factory of Moretti along Fondamenta Manin just down from the boat stop Colonna. Profits are good for the hotels (not necessarily the workers and certainly not for the population of Murano) and they do provide some jobs and create some tax income for the Italian government. The downside of all this is that once the furnaces close it will be virtually impossible for the island to continue to maintain its place in the world of glass. As of now, already 7 more furnaces have closed.

Murano holds a treasure of artisans, world class glass blowers whose names remain unknown because they just go to work each day and blow glass. They do not think of themselves as artist but they are responsible for the largest part of the glass sold. Murano is a legend in our world of glass – since 1291. I hope that the Italian Government comes to the aid of the furnaces in Murano otherwise Italy will be losing the history of Venice and Murano. Along with one of the reasons that tourist come to Venice.

Venice Glass Week 2021

Venice Glass Week of 2021 was exciting but exhausting. There were so many exhibits, workshops that it would take a month to enjoy them all. There were exhibits not only in Venice, Murano and Giudecca but also in Mestre, the town before the bridge. In all, between open studios, gallery exhibits and events there were 132 listed.

The week also collided with the Venice Film Festival and the inauguration of the Rialto Bridge after its restoration which was paid for by Renzo Rosso (the head of Diesel and OTB – Only The Brave Foundation) .Rosso invited Andrea Boccelli to sing. The city was bursting with energy and the first cruise ship of the year also arrived.

The historic REGATA STORICA was held on 5 September. It commemorates the welcome of Caterina Cornaro in 1489, the wife of the King of Cyprus, who renounced her throne in favour of Venice.

My favorite event of the Venice Glass Week, and every year, is the Boca del Fuoco, a 5K run, in my case walk, around Murano beginning and ending at the beautiful San Donato Church. The 5K winds through the darken streets of Murano and through working glass furnaces. We were 550 people this year, everyone in masks of course, just not the fun ones of Carnevale. The kids were a favorite of the glass blowers who loved explaining how to blow glass to the kids.

View from the Bridge (named for Toffolo an actor born in Murano)

Our starting line was just outside the church on the fondamenta. We all received shirts with our route (you just needed someone to read as it was on the back). First over the bridge and to the EffetreMurano, the furnace that make the canes everyone uses to make beads, the cotise (the chunks that some furnaces use) and of course the millefiori.

Candles lit the way for us and the running team had enlisted the help of the youngsters with lighted torches to direct the traffic. The run is a benefit for the Venice Runners, a local group.

Walkway with Candles – Note the tiny Moon just behind the bell tower

There was music in every furnace, but for those of you who blow glass, you know this. The maestro (who ever is in charge) gets to choose the music, but it is always blaring. It has to be loud for you to hear over the noise of the furnace. You can see on the marvering table a tiny horse that was made for the kids. Nothing serious tonight, just fun.

In the photo below, we are at the EffetreMoretti (now known as Effetre Murano) and the guys are demonstrating how to make zanfirico a cane we use in our beads with a twisted design inside the transparent canes. Bead makers sometimes pull their own canes, but here it is industrial, pulled 15-20 feet long.

It is pretty clear that furnaces are not glamorous, they are hot and dangerous.

Take a look below at the beautiful vases. The glass blower is making a fazzoletto, a handkerchief vase, named because it looks like someone holding a handkerchief.

After we ran/walked the 5K, we returned to the garden behind the San Donato church where these dedicated group had prepared food for 550 people. We ate pasta and fried fish and vegetables.
The end to another great Venice Glass Week, even if I didn’t win the raffle.

Our brave Chiefs – Thank you! and See you next year!

The art of glass bead making awarded by Unesco

The 15th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO has officially included the “Arte delle Perle di Vetro” This comes after several years of determined women of Venice, Cristina Bedin, Marisa Convento, and Claudia Cottica proposed to UNESCO so that this cultural heritage would not be lost.

Some ask why is the production of beads so important. (Well not anyone who ever made beaded jewelry.) Documents from Venice show that in 983 AD, a production of glass imitation of precious stones was underway. The furnaces were the domain of the men of Venice while the beadmaking became woman’s work. And as the furnaces were moved to Murano, the Venetians retained the right to create small pieces (figurines, beads, buttons) in their laboratories and homes in Venice.
To watch the video prepared announcing this (it is in French and Italian) and stresses the art and the history. The pictures are worth the watch: Click Here: https://youtu.be/6BwcUVYAPsg

Conterie (what you now know as Seed Bead) were produced in the furnaces in Murano beginning with a bubble of glass and gravity which allowed the glass to stream down from tall scaffolds maintaining the shape as it became smaller and the hole from the original bubble. The women of Venice and Murano strung these tiny beads onto thread using a tool with up to 100 needles. The merchants of Venice to shipped these around the world.

Flowers made from these small beads became a favorite for bouquets for gravesides as they withstood the weather and lasted. These were popular until the Japanese invented the silk flowers which were less expensive and became the flower of choice. In the video above, you can see some of the flowers being made.

Murano an Island in Crisis

Today Murano is again in crisis due partially to the COVID19 shutdown and the lack of tourists since Italy is allowing the citizens of only a handful of countries easy entry. The crisis was already in progress due to the competition of inexpensive glass from other sources which you can find when you walk along the small streets in Murano and Venice. Clearly this is in direct opposition to rules enacted by the Counsel of Venice in 1271 prohibiting the importation of glass from other countries into Venice as well as prohibiting foreign glassworkers from working in Venice. And 20 years later, they moved all furnaces (except for Orsini which still operates in Venice but makes only mosaics) to Murano a secluded group of islands.

Glass Cooling in the Annealing Oven in MuranoTOUCH TIMESBut tough times are not new to Murano. Among the events that threatened the livelihood of Murano was the very Muranese themselves who left and took their knowledge to other countries in Europe in the 1500s. This gave birth to the Bohemian crystals in direct competition of Murano. It was not until the 1700s when Murano became famous for its chandeliers that they enjoyed some prosperity. This was short-lived with the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. The Napoleon decree of 1806 the abolishing of all schools of arts and crafts which brought the glass making industry of Murano to a halt.
Subsequently Napoleon ceded the Veneto (the area of Venice and surroundings) to the the Hapsburgs of Austria in the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. Favoring their own glass workers, the Austrians placed heavy duties on both the exportation of glass as well as the importation of the raw materials needed to make glass. Nearly half of the glass factories closed during the Hapsburg era, and those that remained were only beads and bottles. The glass industry of Venice/Murano received a boost from Antonio Salviati, a Venetian lawyer who gave up his profession in 1859 to run a furnace and his marketing skills and the creations of glass gave rise to an era of prosperity.
Then came World War I and World War II which ravaged the islands by sending the men of the furnaces off to fight. Many of today’s aging maestro went to work at 9-10 years old in the remaining furnaces to help support their families.

Tools of the Trade
COVID19 ShutdownNow COVID19 has created another crisis and tragedy in Murano and Venice. Without the tourism (a love/hate relationship) there is no market for the glass. The cost of operating a furnace is astronomical especially the cost of the gas to maintain the temperature of the molten glass. You can’t simply turn off the light switch as you walk out the door. The glass has to stay in a molten state or it will break the crucible (pot) which holds it.
One in Two Glass Workers Unemployed July 2020
Today it is reported by Confartigianato (organization that promotes the craft) that one in two glass workers in Murano are on unemployment and remain at home. In July 85% of the companies had workers applying for the unemployment. It is slightly improved in the days since the August holiday dropping to 74%. But for those truly passionate glass workers (both artistic and production) they see hope. But they do need support from the Italian government and of course from all us Murano glass lovers….every. But they are not without hope and the Venice Glass Week went on without all of us who would so love being there. They even set up a “floating furnace” on a boat demonstrating all over Venice.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/e02_GMNwc6c

If you want to get a glimpse of the passion the workers share, watch this film from Zuecca Project and is called “Man in the Glass”. It is in Italian, but there are English subtitles. Click on the Image below to watch.

For me, this is the heart of #whyiwork.

Make the Fall 2026 Colors Your Own

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