- Antonio Salviati
Antonio Salviati (
March 18 ,1816 -January 25 ,1890 ) was an Italianglass manufacturer and founder of the Salviati family firm.A native of
Vicenza , Salviati was a lawyer who got interested in glasswork after becoming involved in restorations being done on the mosaics ofSaint Mark's Cathedral in Venice. He opened his first glass business in 1859 with Lorenzo Radi, and this firm produced the mosaic glass for thealtar screen for thehigh altar ofWestminster Abbey . In 1876, he left this business to establish a new firm. His firm executed themosaic decoration of the dome ofAachen Cathedral after the designs of the Belgian architectJean-Baptiste de Bethune .During 1866 Antonio Salviati founded Compagnia Venezia Murano with British diplomat and archaeologist
Austen Henry Layard .TodayPauly & C. - Compagnia Venezia Murano is one of most important brand of venetian art glass production.Of particular historical relevance is the mosaic portrait of President Abraham Lincoln, which can be viewed today in the Senate House rooms in the United States, produced by the Compagnia Venezia Murano and donated by Antonio Salviati in 1866.Murano had been a center of fine glasswork since theMiddle Ages (producing the glass that bore its name), but the pieces were lavish and expensive specialty pieces that only the wealthy could afford. Salviati changed the face of the business by becoming the first glass factory owner to employ a large number of skilled workers to mass produce glass intended for export. This reestablished Murano as a center of glass manufacturing.Salviati died at Vicenza.
External Links
* [http://www.pauly.it Official Site of Pauly & C. | CVM - Compagnia Venezia Murano]
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