When walking around any city, especially if you're on holiday in a foreign country, always keep your eyes peeled as sometimes a photo opportunity may turn into a little discovery.
An immature seagull with its white and brownish feathers standing in front of an old wooden door covered with a decorative elaborate rusty iron grille in Venice, may look like a great photo opportunity, for example, but if you stand back and take the entire door in, you may discover something else.
In this specific case, the door belongs to the "Scoletta dell'arte dei battioro e tiraoro".
Located next to the monumental church of Sant'Eustachio (also known as the church of San Stae), this was the headquarter of the Guild of the artisans who manufactured gold threads and leaves ("battioro" or "battiloro" means indeed goldbeaters) for decorations and but also of golden threads for textile manufacturing, clothing, and jewelry.
Completed after many financial difficulties towards the end of 1711, the Scoletta was dedicated to the protection of Saint Quirico, Saint Giustina, and Saint Lucia.
The art of goldbeating arrived in Venice from Byzantium around the year 1000. In the Byzantine capital, this craft was primarily used for creating mosaics.
However, Venice found an innovative application for it: ultra-thin gold leaves were used to adorn the glass, for which Venice became known worldwide.
These delicate gold leaves also served to elevate the prestige of banquets hosted by the city's wealthy residents, who were willing to go into debt to present dishes covered in gold.
In the 18th century the craft of goldbeating reached its zenith in Venice and goldbeaters were the only artisans allowed to marry into higher social ranks. However, to prevent their guild from gaining too much power, they were not allowed to own the gold they worked with.
The process of transforming raw materials into ultra-thin sheets begins with the fusion phase. The metal is heated to a liquid state, eliminating impurities and allowing it to solidify into characteristic ingot shapes. Then there is the laminating process, which further thins it into delicate sheets.
These sheets are then divided into individual squares during the filling phase and stacked with special paper sheets in between. During the hammering process the partially processed sheets are divided into quarters and stacked again, and they are then subjected to a second manual hammering by reducing them to their final required thickness.
The Guild eventually closed its doors in 1798. In 1806, with Napoleon's edicts, it passed into state ownership. In 1878, the building of the Scoletta became the property of a Venetian antiquarian, who turned it into his shop, and now it is mainly for hired for events and exhibitions.
Nowadays there are still some goldbeaters in Venice, some of them also bear the surname Battiloro; among the few ones there is Mario Berta Battiloro's workshop in Cannaregio that transforms gold and silver into ultra-thin sheets suitable for a wide range of applications, including arts, food, cosmetics, interior design and architectural applications.
This workshop did Bulgari's Rome boutique sign and golden applications for the stone sculptures by Dutch artist Ans Joosten), but, if you work in fashion, you may be more interested in their 24Kt gold make-up kits and beauty products.
So, always stay vigilant when traveling: even a simple photo opportunity can conceal a deeper narrative, providing you with the chance to dig into the local history and culture and potentially uncover unexpected treasures, insights into craftsmanship, techniques, and materials used in the area.
