Bollards, ‘bricole’ and passion for wood …

Are you familiar with the enigmatic 16^th century wooden sculptures ‘hieroglyphs’ by the relatively unknown Venetian virtuoso sculptor Francesco Pianta in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco?

Have you admired the expressions of the 17^th century wooden prophets in the Scuola Grande dei Carmini attributed to Giacomo Piazzetta?

Have you paid attention to the types of wood, ebony and boxwood, Andrea Brustolon, the ‘Michelangelo of wood’, used for the superb pieces of furniture displayed in the Ca’ Rezzonico museum?

Would you like to touch and work on a piece of Venetian wood that is at least 100 to 120 years old after the visit of these Venetian buildings so rich in wooden artwork?

It is now possible!

You can experience working for example on old oak wood, previously used for bollards, bricole.

In the lagoon around Venice you will see everywhere bollards; these show where the canals are navigable, when there are a few wooden piles combined (bricole), where you can turn into a canal, when there are 5 wooden piles plus a higher one (dama) or where you can moor your boat, a single free standing one (palina).

In Lunardelli’s showroom in Venice you can work on one of these pieces of wood.
Let us start from the very beginning.

Lunardelli carpentry was opened in 1967 in Fossalta, close to Venice, by Angelo Lunardelli, who had worked in his youth as a ‘marangon’, carpenter, in Venice.

Lunardelli produced woodwork for highly customized furnishing projects (i.e. windows for Venetian palaces). The introduction of pvc windows led the company to consider also a different type of production.

Lunardelli’s daughter Agnese and his son Stefano Lunardelli lead now the company. They pay great attention to sustainability and environmental awareness, rich also in decades of experience.
Their motto is ‘Love for Venice. Passion for wood’.

In September 2018 they inaugurated in Venice, in the district of San Polo, new premises where to combine their traditional work as carpenters with ideas of talented glass designers and Murano glassblowers, re-interpreting Venetian elements that might seem marginal, but are quintessential for the true understanding and appreciation of our city.

In Lunardelli you will get acquainted with the technique of sfojo or sfogietto.

Sfojo means in Venetian dialect a type of fish, a sole, living at the ground of the lagoon, becoming part of it. You will be given a slice of oak wood, a former bricola, plus apron and gloves. This oak wood (quercius petraea) comes from Germany, France, Poland or Slovenia.

With wax and a simple hair-dryer you will realize it takes more than just 5 minutes to smooth the old surface of wood, eaten up by small animals, into a nice under plate …

Simple tools such as a screwdriver help to remove pieces of wax fallen into the holes.

After you will have waxed it to perfection, you will be given a magnet made out of a portion of wood. So you will take back home a (recycled) piece of Venice and have a fond and long-lasting memory of your visit to this unique city.

Another activity we could plan, with children in this case, is assembling postcards, yes, old fashioned postcards, but made of wood. By cutting out the silhouette of Venice buildings and gluing them on to a wooden background you will have your own masterpiece !

The location is scenographic …

Cupole, Lunardelli´s boxes with domes, recall and re-interpret different domes of Venetian churches, (San Marco, Miracoli, San Simeon, San Michele) with glass-blown ‘a rigatin’ or ‘a baloton’.

You will be walking past tables resulting from glass sticks united together and with wooden legs (without nails!) with patterns that recall the Venetian islands (Poveglia with an octagon, Sant Erasmo with artichokes and fields).

You will be surprised by the high quality home accessories such as Masaneta (discover what this means in dialect!) or a Passo box, Ca’ Pesaro chairs, Cocal shelves, Fondamenta trays, Piova lamps, Canneto floor lamps to mention a few … Venetian names for object relating to Venice…

To plan a visit or a workshop and for further details just mail me!

Fiona Giusto
www.venicetours.it