Leather in Venice?
If you are wondering what role leather played in ancient Venice, you will be surprised to learn about its multi faceted versatility. In the deposits of the City Museums you can find much more than jackets, purses, shoes and belts. You will also find quivers for arrows, wonderful shields, boxes to hold playing cards. And you will find the “cuoridoro”.
Gilt leather wall hangings: the “cuoridoro”
“Cuoridoro” literally means “hearts of gold”. Originally it was two separate words, “cuoi” and “d’oro”, leather decorated with gold. In Venice the two words then merged into quite a poetical invention to address gilt leather wall hangings. Isn’t it nice to say your home is enriched with “cuori in oro”, i.e. hearts of gold?
Leather tanners and their work on Giudecca
Tanners in Venice were arranged in a guild in the 13th century already. In the Correr Museum in St Mark’s square you can still find the original sign showing the hard work it implied.
The sign of the tanners guild, Correr Museum, Venice, 18th century
Detail of the sign of the tanners guild, Correr Museum, Venice, 18th century
Tanning craft, detail from the sign of the tanners guild, Correr Museum, Venice, 18th century
In the middle you can see a man standing in a large tub almost naked. He is pouring some liquid in a funnel. At the sides you can see two men holding blades scratching the leather thinner and thinner and removing the hair left. What the sign cannot tell is the smell… but the dog biting the skin seems to have fun.
Interestingly enough, two of the three men are wearing turbans. As it was a very low paid and hard job, it would not be surprising it would be Muslims or Jews belonging to a lower social class taking care of this activity. Most of the leather tanners held their workshops on the Giudecca island where you can still find many street names related to this economic sector.
Luxury leather to export worldwide
It smelled, it was polluting. Leather tanning was hard. But the goods you could make in leather were among the most interesting luxury artifacts made in Venice. The skin of cows, sheep and goats was in fact turned into gilt leather to decorate the walls of noble homes in Venice and to be exported worldwide.
Giovanni Grevembroch, Cuoridoro maker in “Gli abiti dei Veneziani…”, 18th century
To be honest the tradition was not born in Venice. Connected to islamic countries, both Ottoman and Persian, the tradition bloomed in Cordoba, Spain between the 15th and the 18th century. It then spread to Italy first and later on to the Netherlands, England and France, too. But Venice was so good at making these gilt leather decorations that they exported it to the countries they had learnt the art from!
How gilt leather was made
First baths in slaked lime, then more baths in mineral or vegetable tanning substances, lasting even years… then you had to stretch the leather, remove the hair left, and finally dye it to turn the leather waterproof.
You could then decorate the leather, using punches and etching wooden stamps. Patterns were etched by gently hammering on the coarse backside of the slightly wet leather. And of course you could gild it, but fun thing is that you would rarely use real gold leaf. Silver foils or tin foils were employed instead and then a lacquer was laid on top to imitate gold…
Cuoridoro in Venice museums
There are still some pieces left we can admire today. In the Doge’s Palace you can see the walls all covered in gilt leather in the room of the Quarantia Criminal court and in the archive room coming next.
Cuoridoro at the Quarantia Criminal courtroom, Doge’s palace, Venice
Floral motif cuoridoro in the archive room of the Quarantia Criminal courtroom, Doge’s palace, Venice
At the Correr Museum you can find more —there are 24 pieces kept there.
Putto in Venetian fragment of cuoridoro wainscoting with floral motifs and putto, 1628, leather gilded, stamped and painted, Correr Museum, Venice
Parrot detail in Venetian fragment of cuoridoro wainscoting with floral motifs and putto, 1628, leather gilded, stamped and painted, Correr Museum, Venice
In the Fortuny museum you have some more exhibited. And then of course in private palaces. The same technique was also used for quivers and shields, so do pay attention to some elements of the armory in the Doge’s palace as you will find the cuori d’oro there, too. Fun, darts held in gilt leather quivers, almost as if they belonged to Cupid.
Another art work: fabrics by Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo
The art decayed when tapestry became fashionable. Wall paper in real paper was also used to cover your walls. And finally fabrics. When Ca’ Rezzonico in 1935 became the museum of the 18th century in Venice, restorers chose to place incredibly refined fabrics all over, including for upholstery. Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo fabrics covers the walls of several rooms in the museum or its armchairs and sofas.
Bright red Fortuny fabrics at Ca’ Rezzonico Museum, Venice, 20th century
Blue Fortuny fabrics at Ca’ Rezzonico Museum, Venice, 20th century
Still today produced in the factory on the island of Giudecca, right where once leather tanners worked, Fortuny fabrics seem to close a circle regarding interior design in Venice.
Massimo Doretto and his leather art in Venice today
Nowadays in Venice the art of the “cuoridoro” is still present. Massimo Doretto, a Venice native, is a true lover of leather. In his hands leather is etched applying heated ancient stamps in metal. As a true Venetian, Doretto uses Murano glass which beautifully combines with the gilt and engraved leather.
Book cover in gilt leather and Murano glass, Massimo Doretto, Venice
Gondola base in gilt leather and Murano glass, Massimo Doretto, Venice
For over thirty years, his standard-free creativity has brought Doretto to quite extraordinary results: you can see block notes, frames, book covers, but not just. In his little shop near St Mark’s square, you can see fancy mirrors, bookshelves, little sculptures in wood, leather and glass, miniatures of books, pillows and jewels, all completely handmade and unique.
Pochette by Massimo Doretto, Venice
Just as if those hearts of gold were still beating…
by Luisella Romeo
registered tourist guide in Venice, Italy
www.seevenice.it
