Orsoni Venezia 1888: The Furnace and the Masters of Color Magic

Since 1888, the Orsoni furnace has been producing Venetian enamels and 24k gold leaf mosaics of unique charm and preserves a heritage of more than 3,500 color shades.

What better time than the Venice Biennale to visit a place of art, history, and magic?

Among the protagonists of this year’s #ArtBiennaleExperience event, Orsoni Venezia 1888 is the only active live-fire furnace in Venice and since 1888 has been masterfully dedicated to the craft of color. There are more than 3,500 tones and shades of glass paste mosaics born from the dream of founder Angelo Orsoni.

Angelo Orsoni’s Dream

Angelo Orsoni was born in the mid-1800s in Murano and found work in a glass production furnace. Passionate about his work, he specialized in the most demanding disciplines of the production process: the manufacture of crystal, colored glass, and aventurine.

Soon the celebrated mosaicist Giandomenico Facchina, who had recently opened a furnace for the manufacture of mosaic tiles, noticed Orsoni’s talent and hired him to create colored mosaics.

In 1888, Facchina moved to France and his disciple did not follow him, unwilling to abandon his beloved city of origin.

1889 was the year of the Paris Universal Exposition, which brought together creative excellence from around the world, and the year when Art Nouveau expanded the use of mosaic, previously employed exclusively in sacred contexts, to civil architecture.

When Orsoni presented his color panel at the Paris exposition in 1889, the furnace was immediately entrusted with prestigious commissions: the decoration of the École des beaux-arts, the Trocadéro, the Hotel de la Ville, the celebrated Opéra Theatre, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris, and then the Sanctuary of Lourdes and Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Upon Angelo’s death, his son Giovanni took over, carrying forward his father’s dream by creating the fabulous mosaic decorations of the spires of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the project of architectural genius Antoni Gaudí.

The artisanal mastery continued its journey, passed from father to son: Giovanni later collaborated with his son Ruggero, who promoted a new activity: a studio for the creation of finished mosaics.

The Library of Color: More Than 3,500 Tones and Shades

The unique heritage of Fornace Orsoni is now protected by Riccardo Bisazza, President, and Lucio Orsoni, Honorary President.

Since 2003, the Orsoni furnace has been part of TREND Group, a design company specializing in artistic and industrial mosaics. It is a story destined to continue illuminating with magic, light, and color, tile after tile.

A collection of more than 3,500 colors and shades of glass paste enamels is preserved in the Library of Color at Fornace Orsoni. A library to catalog, like precious books, infinite colors.

Among the shades, the most famous is the gold of San Marco, used for the mosaics of the world’s most celebrated Basilica, an exclusive production of Fornace Orsoni.

From San Cristoforo in Belgium to the Mausoleum of Atatürk in Ankara, from Westminster in London to the domes and golden Buddhas of Bangkok, from the palaces of the Kings in Saudi Arabia to the Forum des Halles and the Bassin de la Défense in Paris, to the Pagoda of the Grand Palace of the Thai Royals, Orsoni mosaics are a symbol worldwide of the mastery of Venetian craftsmanship.

Fornace Orsoni is a unique place for Venice, a living testament to how the city shines with artisanal expertise.