Lace Museum Museum

The Lace Museum of Burano

Located on Piazza Galuppi, in the heart of Burano, the Lace Museum occupies the former palace of the podestà of Torcello, which housed the famous Burano Lace School from 1872 to 1970. The museum traces the history of this craft associated for centuries with the island and with the Venetian lace tradition, sought after throughout Europe since the early modern period.

The exhibition brings together more than two hundred pieces from the 16th to the 20th century: collars, borders, accessories, garments, designs and documents illustrate the evolution of styles and techniques. Visitors discover in particular the punto Burano, or Burano point, characterized by a background formed by very small rectangular meshes.
It presents the manufacturing techniques and then follows a chronological organization, from the origins of lace in the 16th century to the history of the Burano School in the 19th and 20th centuries. Panels, documents and objects place the exhibited pieces in their historical context and show how much this craft requires precision and patience.

Master lacemakers are still sometimes present in the museum, especially in the morning, allowing visitors to directly observe the work of needle and thread and to better understand a skill that has become rare today.

The Lace School

In the 19th century, the craft declined due to changing fashions and competition from mechanical production. In 1872, Countess Andriana Marcello helped found the Lace School to preserve and transmit the old techniques. Supported in particular by Queen Margherita of Savoy, the school trained several generations of lacemakers and brought old Venetian patterns back into circulation.

Despite the prestige of its productions, their high cost gradually made competition with industrial lace difficult. The school closed in 1970. Its collections and archives were then preserved and restored; the Lace Museum opened in 1981 before joining in 1995 the network of Venetian Civic Museums.

Sources and further information

Museo del Merletto — official MUVE website ; Museo del Merletto — tour and collections ; Venezia Unica — Museo del Merletto ; Wikipedia (it) — Museo del Merletto di Burano.