A brilliant intuition
Venetian glassmakers began practicing this art, inheriting the use of soda glass from the East. This composition is suited to hot working, and in this they distinguished themselves for their aesthetic taste and the use of multiple colors. For Venetians, aesthetic skill was founded on the intuition that glass is an extremely malleable material, suitable for blowing and shaping while incandescent, yet capable of maintaining the same chromatic characteristics even in the finished product. This differs from the Nordic tradition, which holds that glass is the equivalent of hard stone and therefore that skill lies in enhancing objects through cutting.
The origins
In the 13th century, Murano artisans clearly dominated. This was due to the natural concentration of glassworks on the island of Murano, so much so that in 1291 the state decreed the destruction of glassworks built in Venice, attributing their historical origin to Murano. Glassmaking had by then become important to the economy of Venice and the lagoon. Around 1271, the local glassmakers’ guild established rules to help preserve the secrets of glassmaking. Divulging trade secrets outside Venice was forbidden. If a glassmaker left the city without permission, he was ordered to return. If he failed to return, his family would be imprisoned. If he still failed to return, an assassin would be sent to kill him. Additional rules specified the ingredients used to make glass and the type of wood used as fuel for the furnaces.
The statement
After the end of the Republic of San Marco in 1797, the glassmaking craft underwent a revival in the second half of the 19th century, and the glassworks that emerged developed techniques that are still in use today, giving rise to contemporary and designer glassware. Murano glassmakers quickly became the most prominent profession on the island: from the 14th century onward, glassmakers were allowed to carry swords, enjoyed immunity from prosecution by the Venetian state, and their daughters were allowed to marry into the wealthiest families in Venice. However, glassmakers were never allowed to leave the Republic. For several centuries, Murano glassmakers maintained a monopoly on the quality of their glass and on the development and refinement of techniques, including crystalline glass, enameled glass, gold-threaded glass (avventurina), multicolored glass (millefiori), milk glass (lattimo), and imitation gemstones in glass. Today, Murano artisans are still employing these centuries-old techniques in every craft: from contemporary glass art to Murano glass figurines, to chandeliers and wine stoppers.
Beniamino's Vision
In 1934, Beniamino Mandruzzato founded the family business and taught his son Luigi the carving and modeling techniques of the old master glassmakers.
Luigi Mandruzzato, in turn, continued to pass down this ancient art to his son Gianfranco, and together they had the opportunity to work alongside global phenomena.
When Pablo Picasso designed a chessboard with Murano glass for the Fucina Degli Angeli in Venice, Alessandro Mandruzzato’s grandfather and father were commissioned to create it. At that moment, they began to understand a way to innovate, not with more organic forms, but with geometric shapes and the “Cubist concept” of symmetrical and asymmetrical pieces. Thanks also to the intuition of designer Flavio Poli, creator of the sommerso technique, Molato glass becomes an explosion of color, continuing ancient techniques but creating a fusion with contemporary and modern life. Working together on several projects, Luigi and Gianfranco Mandruzzato and Pablo Picasso created some of the most popular designs and concepts of all time for modern Murano glass furniture, including the Cubismo and “San Marco” pieces, considered among Mandruzzato’s most iconic Murano glass creations.
Submerged and shape
Flavio Poli and Luigi Mandruzzato
In the 1960s, while Luigi Mandruzzato, Alessandro’s grandfather, was establishing his business by exporting his family’s products and participating in major international fairs, Murano was a hub of intense artistic experimentation, where designers and master glassmakers explored new expressive possibilities for glass. This was the context for the research of Flavio Poli, a key figure in postwar artistic glassmaking.
Flavio Poli’s contribution to the development of the sommerso glass technique, achieved by layering multiple glass layers of different colors and consistencies, is crucial. This contribution, while fundamental from a material perspective, does not affect the design of the external forms. In the Mandruzzato family’s production, the formal definition of the objects stems from the moleria—glass ground using diamond wheels, smoothed, and subsequently polished with cork—a technique passed down and developed over four generations. The sommerso should therefore be understood as a shared technique, while the formal language, autonomous and recognizable, represents a distinctive trait of Mandruzzato’s production, distinct and independent from Flavio Poli’s artistic research.
Over the years, Beniamino Mandruzzato, Luigi Mandruzzato, Gianfranco Mandruzzato, and now Alessandro Mandruzzato have collaborated with numerous established commercial architects and interior designers, including Dolce & Gabbana, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf & Goodman, John Salibello, Christian Dior, Ajmal Parfume Dubai, and more.
The legacy
Aware of the work his family does, Alessandro continues to create high-quality furnishings, using new products and custom-designed machinery.
I grew up amidst the glow of the furnace and the echo of diamond grinding wheels, in a workshop where every object is born from the perfect union of fire and hand. From a young age, I knew my destiny was sealed: to carry on the Mandruzzato name and make it shine throughout the world. I was 15 when I began working and learning this ancient technique from my father, and as a child, the atelier was my playground.
In Murano, anyone born the son of an artisan experienced every corner of the workshop as a magical world waiting to be discovered, amidst colors, tools, and the heat of the furnaces. It was a serious game, of course, but one that fascinated me and tied me even more to the tradition that, unknowingly, I was already living.
In 2000, my father Gianfranco left me to run the family business, and that’s how I began to experiment with combining Murano glass with contemporary materials like stainless steel, wood, and precious metals, bringing a breath of fresh air without ever losing our ties to our roots.
“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.” Cit.
60s–70s Collection – Geometries and Avant-garde
Discover the glass creations of Luigi Mandruzzato™: modern, geometric shapes that combine Murano tradition with the innovative spirit of the 1950s in contemporary art and design.
Creation of Murano Artistic Glass
Discover how our unique pieces are created: from design to grinding, to final polishing and quality control. Authenticity and excellence 100% Made in Murano.