Museo del Vetro di Murano

About the museum

The Museo del Vetro di Murano was founded in 1861. After the most difficult years in the island's glass history, which followed the fall of the Republic of San Marco in 1797, the mayor Antonio Colleoni and the abbot Vincenzo Zanetti, a keen enthusiast of glassmaking, had the municipal council approve an archive to gather evidence of the island's history and life. Thanks to numerous gifts of ancient and contemporary glass from the owners of the furnaces, the museum section soon took precedence.

The seat is a palace built as a patrician residence in the florid Gothic style. In 1689 the bishop of Torcello, Marco Giustinian, moved his residence there and then bought it to donate to the diocese; the building was restructured to a design by Antonio Gaspari and preserves on the noble first floor the central hall ceiling frescoed by Francesco Zugno. When the diocese was suppressed in 1805, the palace passed to the Patriarchate of Venice, which sold it in 1840 to the Comune di Murano. From 1861 the museum gradually extended to the whole building, and in 1923, with the incorporation of Murano into the Comune di Venezia, the palace and the museum passed to the latter.

The visit route is chronological: it starts from Roman finds of the 1st–4th centuries AD and runs through seven hundred years of Murano glass history, from the 14th century to the present day.

Highlights

• Chronological route from Roman finds to contemporary glass
• Glass from the 14th to the 17th century, the golden age
• The 18th century between fashion and creativity
• Venetian pearls and murrine (millefiori canes)
• Glass and design of the 20th century
• Ceiling frescoed by Francesco Zugno

Permanent exhibition

• Percorso di visita del Museo del Vetro – The chronological route presents the origins of Murano glass, the masterpieces from the 14th to the 17th century, 18th-century production, Venetian pearls, murrine, the 19th-century revival and 20th-century glass, with the Spazio Conterie.

Founded

1861

Operated by

Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia

Visitors per year

approx. 186,873

Admission & discounts

Online, only the reductions for young people aged 6 to 14, students aged 15 to 25 and people over 65 are available; other reductions and free tickets are collected at the ticket office with a document proving entitlement. Free admission, among others, for residents and people born in the Comune di Venezia, children aged 0 to 5, licensed tour guides, ICOM members and holders of the MUVE Friend Card. The audio guide (MUVE APP) is included in the ticket.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is accessible to people with disabilities. It is housed in a listed historic palace, so the floors may have slight slopes, raised thresholds or steps of uneven height.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Baby changing facilities

Baby pit-stop space for breastfeeding, changing and relaxing. The Foundation offers family activities for children and young people aged 5 to 14 at its venues, booked online.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop
• Coat check

Information desk, ticket office, free cloakroom, Museum Store and toilets. Trolleys and large luggage (more than 1 metre in total for the three sides) may not be taken in. Dog-sitting service bookable via Bauadvisor.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit