Venetian Windows Necklace

The Venetian Windows Necklace

Venice was a world-class economic and political empire a thousand years ago. Venetian Windows are a powerful symbol of Venice and its history. They grab the eye. One can identify many a Venetian building by its windows. Through windows, we can catch glimpses of the lives of the families that lived inside, and at the same time, windows look out on the world. Venetian Windows symbolize Serenissima at its height. They are bordered with Istrian marble imported from the eastern Adriatic (now Croatia), which was once a part of the Venetian empire. Of course, what else are windows made of? Glass! Glass was the commodity that Venetians held the secret to and exported to the far corners of the world. Venice grew wealthy through trade. The shapes of Venetian Windows recall the architectural styles that adventurous and wealthy Venetians would have seen in their travel to eastern markets. Indeed, Venetian Gothic architecture is a mash of local building requirements and influence from Venetian trading partners in both the Byzantine and Islamic worlds. Each window is made up of two panels that are fused together. The front panel is what would have been made of Istrian marble with its elaborately carved stone. The back panel is an engraved gold version of the different leaded glass patterns that one finds in Venice still. The finials on the toggle are taken from the shape of the poles that Venetians tie their gondolas up to. The cross hatching on the toggle suggests the two tone brick pattern on the Doges Palace.

LA SERENISSIMA
Otherwise known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice, it was a sovereign state and a maritime republic with an expansive empire centered on the lagoon of Venice. Its overseas possessions and far-reaching influence ebbed and flowed between 697 AD and  1797 AD.