From the 16th-century archives of Italian glass technology to the workshop: A study of peculiar glass recipes

Exploring technological transfers

Renaissance science provided a rich environment for multidisciplinary experimentation, infused with alchemical theories. Starting around the 1550s, Florence developed an interest in glass chemistry that was less conventional than in Venice. Proper laboratories initiated by the Medici were hosting research in various fields, including metallurgy, medicine, glassmaking, and astronomy, all under the same roof. My work retraces the technological cross-contaminations that such a setting allows, by following their translation into glass developments.

A dialogue between history and contemporary practices

My research adheres to a fairly recent way of analysing historical data by re-enacting technical processes. From an artistic and design point of view, my project goes back in time and selects snapshots of interrupted experiments, brings them back into a modern workshop and develops them further. This is an important work because historical knowledge cannot be preserved solely through physical artefacts. Regarding glass, only a limited selection of finished pieces has survived. Raw evidence of experimenting with the material is mainly available in written form with implicit information, therefore requiring a translation into practical operations.

Following trails

The first year of my doctoral research was focused on building a context for the practical component of my thesis. To carry out this work, I developed palaeography skills and familiarised myself with alchemical theories of material transformation. During the grant period, I identified at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence primary documents related to Antonio Neri, the author behind the first compendium on glassmaking techniques developed in a Medici laboratory. This is the first step to collect more records written around the publication of that treaty, such as workshop notes showing trials, inventories or materials orders and drawing relations between characters.

Flipping rocks

What I love most about researching archives is the uncertainty of outcomes. Indexes don’t always provide a clear picture of the documents and records they may contain, so following a path can either lead to nowhere or turn out to be a significant discovery. That requires some speculation and remaining open to new directions. It is very humbling to read the handwriting and peek into the lives of historical figures. There’s a form of clairvoyance over documents that were sometimes private, but this also brings a responsibility to interpret them carefully.

Etienne Thevenet received a 24500 € grant from Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion for doctoral studies in 2024.