The glass bead trade routes: Spain and Portugal
Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia Giancarlo Ligabue
Natural History Museum of Venice Giancarlo Ligabue
Monday 14 September 2026, 10.00-12.30 and 14.30-17.30
Tuesday 15 settembre 2026, 10.00-13.00
Curated by
Augusto Panini
Chiara Squarcina
Mauro Stocco
Organized by
Monica Piscina
Event organised as part of the project ‘L’Arte delle perle di Vetro: dal museo alla scuola’ (PR Veneto FESR 2021-2027) – Azione 4.6.1 ‘Initiatives in support of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (DGR n°701/2025) – CUP F79I25001290002’.
This year marks the sixth edition of the conference dedicated to glass beads, which the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia organizes annually as part of The Venice Glass Week, the festival founded in 2017 to celebrate, support, and promote the art of glass. Each year, the theme chosen provides an opportunity to explore a specific aspect of the history and production of glass beads over the centuries on a global scale, thanks to the participation of renowned national and international speakers.
The dawn of the modern age, marked by the geographical discoveries in the New World and the oceanic routes opened by Spain and Portugal, shifted the focus of global trade from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean, undermining the longstanding Venetian and Ottoman monopoly on the spice trade. Yet, amid this profound transformation, Venice succeeded in reasserting its economic centrality by establishing itself as the leading supplier of glass beads,a strategic and indispensable commodity in the triangular trade linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
