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© Claudia Lorriana Manzo
© Claudia Lorriana Manzo
© Marco Santin
© Marco Santin
© Mauro Vianello

Mauro Vianello

  • Lampworker
  • Venice, Italy
  • Master Artisan
Mauro Vianello Lampworker
Contact
Italian, English, French
Hours:
Monday to Saturday 10:30 - 13:00/14:00 - 19:30
Phone:
+39 3518378466
© Claudia Lorriana Manzo

The fragility of sea life

  • • Mauro is a passionate glass lampworker
  • • His sculpted creatures bring glass to life
  • • He had to struggle to be an artist

Born into a Muranese family, but not one connected to the exclusive community of glass, Mauro Vianello was destined to be an accountant, living far from art and its uncertainties. But since he was a child, he’s been deeply attracted by colours, pictures and glass. So, after high school and 18 months in the Italian Navy, he worked for a Murano furnace, where he assembled chandeliers, travelling around Italy and abroad. His passion for lampworking, nurtured in loneliness, was very strong: finally thanks to his friend Vanni, who had taught him the basic skills, he had the chance to open his own business. Nowadays he’s one of the most celebrated glass artists in Italy, specialising in very detailed naturalistic productions of sea life creatures, in the wake of the Blaschkas’ tradition.

Read the full interview

Works

  • © All rights reserved
  • © All rights reserved
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  • © All rights reserved
  • © All rights reserved
Photo: © All rights reserved
Pagurus bernhardus

Lamp worked and blown Murano glass sculpture, representing the sealife scene of a hermit crab in a very naturalistic way. When it was still hot, the crab was put into the just blown shell, then the two pieces have been welded together. The hermit crab was polished and the base had a satin finish.

Height 8 cm
Diameter 10 cm

Photo: © All rights reserved
Janolus savinkini

This sculpture, made from lamp worked Murano glass, represents a group of nudibranchs in a vivid shape. The small sea slugs have been polished and then had a satin finish. The naturalistic passion of Mauro Vianello was awakened by the Blaschkas’ production.

Height 10 cm
Diameter 14 cm

Photo: © All rights reserved
Acanthuridae

This sculpture of a surgeonfish with a piece of seaweed is made from lamp worked Murano glass, then satin finished. The seaweed was welded to the base when they both were still hot, then the fish was glued to the base (realised with multicolour glass frit).

Height 16 cm
Diameter 11 cm
Length 11 cm

Photo: © All rights reserved
Ostracion Cubicus

This very detailed lifelike Murano glass sculpture depicts a yellow boxfish over a piece of seaweed and a rock. The boxfish, lamp blown and worked, is empty, thanks to a rare and sophisticated craft. All the particulars were obtained through the pure glass lamp working, without adding cold painting.

Height 13 cm
Diameter 14 cm
Length 8 cm

Photo: © All rights reserved
Actiniaria and Amphiprion ocellaris

This stunning piece, a sea anemone with clownfish hiding and peeping out through its tentacles, was crafted lampworking the colourful Murano glass, while the base was made in a Murano furnace. The fish were sandblasted to get a realistic matte skin effect, as opposed to the polished tentacles.

Height 23 cm
Diameter 30 cm
Length 10 cm

Enjoy an experience with Mauro Vianello

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