What happened in Murano, stayed in Murano. So was the rigidly guarded way of life on the tiny island in the Venetian Lagoon, about a mile north of Venice, where, in the late 1200s, the Venetian government mandated that the furnaces used by local glassmakers, and the glassmakers themselves, be relocated from the city center.

Intended as a measure to protect central Venice from the fire hazard posed by the furnaces, the law also protected the secrets of the Murano glassblowers’ revered craft, which involves melting mineral sands at temperatures between 1,700 and 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit and adding in elements like cobalt and gold leaf to create vivid colors and glimmering finishes.