Originating in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Egypt and Palestine, glass craftsmanship was later introduced to the province of Venice and many countries on the European continent. In the hands of talented Venetian artisans, this new glass craft blossomed into a magnificent art form that would dazzle and conquer the entire world with its beauty.
Although glass was not an entirely new material for the Romans, it was the glassblowing technology acquired from the Middle Eastern peoples that allowed them to lay the foundations of theVenetian glass art. Since Venice in the 9th century was an overcrowded city, with many buildings constructed exclusively of wood, the glassmakers, and especially the furnaces, were soon forced to move to Murano, a small island not far from the peninsular coast.
Some historians perceive this exile as a form of strategic control, considering that it was much easier for the authorities to pull the strings of the glass craft once it was contained to a small island. With glass production on Murano subject to strict regulations and careful monitoring by government authorities, the craft steadily grew into a profitable industry, and the secrets of the Murano glass masters' trade never reached the ears of other competing countries.
The large concentration of skilled craftsmen in such a small area contributed greatly to the development and refinement of the Murano glass art and facilitated the exchange of creative ideas. Murano glass was slowly evolving into something very great, which would reach its full potential in the 15th and 16th centuries, when the glassware produced on the island of Murano rivaled the rest of the world in terms of beauty and craftsmanship with Venetian glassware and mirrors. In fact, Murano had become so important and popular that it received constant visits from the world's leading figures such as kings, popes and elite merchants, attracted by what was considered the most fashionable range of hand-made glassware and the pinnacle of glassmaking technology.
After two centuries of dominance over other powerful competing markets, Murano glassmaking would suffer a significant decline during the 18th century, when the country's political downfall would have a pronounced impact on the glass craft as well. The glass industry could no longer be efficiently controlled and the country's economic instability led to the closure of many workshops, leaving a large number of artisans without work. For the already struggling province of Venice, the French and Austrian invasions of the latter part of the century were the final nail in the coffin of its glassmaking craft and, with no help to fall back on, Murano glassmaking sank with it.
However, just like a phoenix rising from its ashes, the Murano glass art revived at the dawn of the 19th century, as foreign occupation ended and Italy began its economic and industrial recovery. In the decades that followed, Murano's traditional glassmaking would be brought to the heights of its former glory and beyond, expanding the ramifications of its world-famous glass industry and introducing innovative new techniques to the industry. This period of innovation and prosperity continues today, with the line of Murano glass chandeliers famous and desired throughout the world
