PERLE 6.0
The glass bead trade routes: Spain and Portugal
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 F79125001290002.”
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.
PROGRAMME
Monday 14 settembre
10.00-12.30
10.00
Chiara Squarcina, Scientific Director Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia
Augusto Panini, Glass Bead Expert and Historian
Welcome and introduction to the conference topics
10.30
Paloma Pastor Rey de Viñas, Museo Tecnológico del Vidrio – Real Fábrica de Cristales de La Granja – Segovia
From Murano to La Granja: The Journey of Glassmaking Knowledge
11.15
Ignasi Domènech Vives, Museus de Sitges
Between Catalonia and Venice: Relations, Transfers and the Circulation of Glass from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Century
12.00
Questions from the audience and discussion
_
14.30-17.00
14.30
Pierre Niccolò Sofia, Università di Padova
Cadice e Lisbona: due porte d’accesso al mondo atlantico nell’era dei commerci globali
15.15
Francisca Pulido Valente, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
VICARTE-Vidro e Cerâmica para as Artes-Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia
Millefiori glass unearthed in Portugal featuring distinctive murrine patterns: Venetian or Façon-de-Venise glass artefacts?
16.00
Andreia Martins Torres, Universidad de Salamanca
Beads on Board: Possessions, People and Exchange in the Portuguese Indian Ocean
16.45
Domande dal pubblico e discussione
_
Tuesday 15 settembre
10.00-13.00
10.00
Opening of the proceedings
10.15
Luca Molà, University of Warwick
Venetian Glass Beads for Iberian Markets in the Late Sixteenth Century
11.00
Aitor Labajo Román, Universidad de Valladolid
Geographical Distribution of Glass in Archaeological Sites across the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands
11.45
Augusto Panini, Glass Bead Expert and Historian
Le perle di vetro veneziane nel commercio globale dell’Età Moderna
Ore 12.00
Questions from the audience and discussion
Closing remarks
_
During the whole conference a translation service into Italian/English language will be available.
On Tuesday, 15 September 2026 at 18.00, the proceedings of the conference “BEADS 5.0. Venetian Beads in the Nineteenth Century” will be presented at the Natural History Museum of Venice Giancarlo Ligabue.
Discover all the events and initiatives of the tenth edition of The Venice Glass Week >
Admission by invitation only, subject to availability
For information: museo.vetro@fmcvenezia.it.
With the patronage of:
Comitato Nazionale Italiano A.I.H.V.
