Venetian Mirrors

The history of Venetian mirrors is long and fascinating. Although mirrors were developed thousands of years ago, the first mirrors were rather crude. Roman and Egyptian mirrors tended to be little more than pieces of polished metal or glass. A typical mirror might be a circle of polished bronze, or a piece of highly-polished obsidian rock set into a frame with a handle. Mirrors were small, and most mirrors were hand-held and functional, rather than large and decorative.

The History of Venetian Mirrors

Mirrors made of flat glass were probably first invented in Europe, circa 300 AD. It wasn't until the end of the 12th century, however, that production of glass mirrors with metal backings began in earnest. In the final years of the 1100s and the early years of the 1200s, Venetians developed better methods for making mirrors.

Soon, Venetian mirrors were known as the best in the world. Artisans from other countries longed to know the secret to Venetian mirror production, but the Venetian craftsmen were bound by law to keep the secret to themselves. As such, it took hundreds of years for the secret to spill and spread out across Europe.

Venice was not only famous for their mirrors, but for glass-making in general. In fact, Venice was known as the glass-making capital of the world. In 1291, interestingly, Venetian glass production moved out of the city itself, and onto the island of Murano. Relegating glass and mirror production to an island helped limit the damage caused by fires, a hazard frequently caused by the glass-making furnaces.