Reinventing an Old Material: Venice and the New Glass

Abstract

In the fourth century CE, the stability of the Roman Empire began to rapidly diminish. As the central cohesion of the Empire was lost, glassmaking centers began to more greatly reflect their regional influences and many of the more sophisticated techniques became less widespread. Shortly before 300 CE, Diocletian became Emperor and tried to stabilize the Empire by dividing it into Western and Eastern halves. Each half of the former Empire had its own capital (Rome in West and Constantinople in the East) and Emperor, although the Emperor of the West was subservient to that of the East. The fragmentation of the empire, first into East and West, and later into isolated regions conquered by outside forces, meant the end of centralized glass production. Glassmaking shifted from urban centers to rural locations closer to sources of fuel. As a result, glassmakers within the two halves of the empire became isolated and eastern and western glassware gradually acquired distinct characteristics. Still, glassmaking was able to survive the end of the unified Roman system and adapted to the needs of the new political framework. The primary result of this changing framework was the loss of more specialized and sophisticated decoration techniques, such as cutting, polishing, and enameling. Critical techniques such as glassblowing were simplified to their basic essentials and simple procedures like mold blowing essentially disappeared.