VENICE EXPLAINED

The first modern industry in the world was the “Arsenale di Venezia”. This name, which derives from the Arab “Dār al-ṣināʿa” (“house of crafts”), is now used worldwide. Why is that so?

The Arsenal of Venice (“Arsenale di Venezia” in Italian), was a complex of shipyards and armories of the Serenissima. Constructed first in 1104, it was the first and biggest industry of the world until the industrial revolution which took place almost 7 centuries later!

Methods for mass production of ships, based on the standardized production of different elements in different areas of the Arsenal, made it then possible, on an assembly-line basis, to build an entire ship in 1 day. (In 1570, during a war against the Turkish fleet, the Arsenal managed to produce 100 war ships in less than 2 months) The production of ships and the requirement of wood was so high that the Arsenal had an exclusive forest in the hills on the mainland close to Venice.

Venetian painters would work by building up layer upon layer of oil paint, which would dry very slowly, giving time to the artist to blend colors together, achieving subtle gradations. But there is an even bigger secret about the Venetian painters…