Venetian crafts have deep roots
Long a city of aristocrats, luxury goods, and trade, Venice has an amazing culture. Its fantasy-world atmosphere of elegant decay is like nowhere else in Europe. But with souvenir hawkers everywhere pushing cheap masks, glassy baubles, and lacy doilies, it can come across as a tacky tourist trap. Look behind those tired clichés, though, and you'll get glimpses of Venice's history.
Masks
Venice's ubiquitous, ornately decorated masks are more than just colorful souvenirs -- they come with a story. In the 1600s, masks were a practical tool in a physician's medical bag. When attending plague victims, the doctor crammed the beak-shaped nose of his mask with herbs, hoping to filter the air and prevent the spread of the dreaded disease. (Venice was especially susceptible to plague because of its trading links.)
In the 1700s, when Venice was Europe's party town, masks became a big part of Carnevale celebrations, the weeks-long Mardi Gras festivities leading up to Lent. Since everyone wore masks, all social classes partied as one. The most popular masks were based on characters from the lowbrow comedic theater called commedia dell'arte: the trickster Harlequin, the beautiful and cunning Columbina, the country bumpkin Pulcinella, and the sad clown Pierrot.
Even outside Carnevale season, high-class Venetians traditionally enjoyed the anonymity of a mask. To avoid awkward questions while out and about doing less-than-respectable things -- gambling at the casino or patronizing a brothel -- they donned a simple mask that hid half of their face, along with their identity.
Masks and Carnevale celebrations pretty much died out with the Venetian Republic, which ended when Napoleon took over in 1797. But the tradition made a dramatic comeback in the 1970s, when the Carnevale was revived. Step into a mask shop today, and you'll see a forest of beautifully painted samples. The best stores have workshops where you can watch masks being made (such as Ca' Macana, near Campo San Barnaba, or the workshop of Stefano Gottardo, at the end of Calle Lunga Santa Maria Formosa).
Glass
Glass is older than ancient Rome, but during the Middle Ages, Europe forgot how to make it. The Republic of Venice, though, with strong commercial ties to the Middle East and Byzantium, relearned glass techniques from its trading partners.
Venetian glass became a coveted luxury, and Venice closely guarded the secrets of its production. After a series of devastating fires at glass factories in the 13th century, Venice's ruler (the doge) relegated all glassmaking to the lagoon island of Murano. It's just as likely that the doge intended to isolate the glassworkers and their workshops to keep competitors away and protect the Venetian monopoly.
Artisans have been producing their venerable glass on Murano ever since. It was on Murano that glassmakers first figured out how to make pure, transparent glass and perfected the technique called millefiori -- "1,000 flowers" -- in which layers of colored glass evoke a many-colored bouquet.
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(c)2019 RICK STEVES DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
