{"id":6223,"date":"2016-06-27T10:28:41","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T14:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=6223"},"modified":"2016-04-06T10:29:17","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T14:29:17","slug":"venetian-glass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/venetian-glass","title":{"rendered":"Through the Venetian looking-glass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine being forced\u00a0to move to an island\u00a0because you were so\u00a0skilled at your job,\u00a0and leaving was a crime\u00a0punishable by death.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just what master Venetian\u00a0glass-blowers faced in 1291 when\u00a0the city forced them to move to the\u00a0island of Murano.\u00a0The Venetian government lived\u00a0in fear of losing its monopoly over\u00a0the glass makers\u2019 exquisite works, so\u00a0they packed them up and shipped\u00a0them off. They fawned and f\u00eated\u00a0their captive glass makers, allowing\u00a0them to wear swords (a privilege\u00a0usually given only to the aristocracy)\u00a0and marry into prestigious\u00a0families\u2014they just couldn\u2019t leave\u00a0their little island. Ever. Apart\u00a0from protecting trade secrets so\u00a0important to Venice\u2019s prominence,\u00a0isolating glass-blowers also served to\u00a0quell concerns over fires spreading\u00a0from their hot furnaces through the\u00a0streets of Venice.<\/p>\n

Judge one of the world\u2019s oldest\u00a0art forms for yourself as you go\u00a0behind the scenes to watch the\u00a0mesmerizing skills of a local\u00a0Venetian glass-blower. In existence\u00a0since Byzantine times, the\u00a0technique you\u2019ll see today remains\u00a0largely unchanged. Heating the\u00a0silica compound to a liquid state,\u00a0the artisan has a narrow window\u00a0of time to mold the glass before it\u00a0hardens. See how the most delicate\u00a0and intricate figurines emerge from\u00a0glowing fire and black iron rods.<\/p>\n

\"Venice-river\"Though Venetian glass is now\u00a0admired as a contemporary art,\u00a0glass was first produced in the\u00a012th century as beads for Catholic\u00a0rosaries. Later, Venetians revolutionized\u00a0the way mirrors were\u00a0made\u2014glass panes lined with\u00a0foil instead of polished metal.\u00a0Continuing to innovate, Venice\u2019s\u00a0glass-blowers discovered in the 16th\u00a0century something we now take\u00a0for granted\u2014how to make glass\u00a0clear. Glass before then was cloudy,\u00a0making your see-through windows\u00a0indebted forever to Venice.<\/p>\n

From stunning color to clarity\u00a0and elaborate design, enjoy Venetian\u00a0glass for both its decorative beauty\u00a0and practical\u00a0function. Perhaps\u00a0you\u2019ll leave Italy with a vase, a year-round\u00a0ornament, or a beautiful glass\u00a0paperweight. No matter what you\u00a0choose, you\u2019ll come home with an\u00a0Italian treasure and a new appreciation\u00a0for one secret that we\u2019re all glad\u00a0finally got out.<\/p>\n

Explore\u00a0our most popular tour that\u00a0includes this activity: explorica.com\/rfv<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine being forced\u00a0to move to an island\u00a0because you were so\u00a0skilled at your job,\u00a0and leaving was a crime\u00a0punishable by death. That\u2019s just what master Venetian\u00a0glass-blowers faced in 1291 when\u00a0the city forced them to move to the\u00a0island of Murano.\u00a0The Venetian government lived\u00a0in fear of losing its monopoly over\u00a0the glass makers\u2019 exquisite works, so\u00a0they packed them up and Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":6226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,172],"tags":[89,410,345,58,17,128,362],"class_list":["post-6223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explorica-news","category-teachers","tag-art-educational-tours","tag-cultural-immersion","tag-educational-tours","tag-educational-travel","tag-italy","tag-student-travel","tag-venice-tours"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6223"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6258,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6223\/revisions\/6258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}