Antonio Neri

Italy 1576-1614

Antonio Neri was an alchemist, a glassmaker, and a priest. He worked for a prince of the Medici family. (1&4) He was known for his “careful experimentation and research.” (1) Born in 1576, by 1612 he had developed a new technique: “the addition of a minute amount of gold to the molten mixture of glassmaking materials,” which created ”a glass of a brilliant ruby color.” To this day, the technique cannot be mass-produced, much like the papermaking process of the 17th century. (2) At the time, glassmaking was a difficult process, and an important secret so it was carefully guarded. Venice was known as the glassmaking capital of Europe, producing the finest glass. As long as Venice held the secret of cristallo,”a sophisticated Venetian specialty renowned for its delicate clarity”(1), the Venetians maintained control over the market. Neri, however, cared more for the dissemination of information than the superiority of the Venetian economy. He “is famously known as the author of the first book devoted to the subject of making glass—L'Arte Vetraria,” (1) which was published the same year that he came up with the gold-and-glass technique. His book is especially shocking when one considers that at the time, such information was handed down in secret from master to apprentice. The expectation was that anyone who knew the answer to creating the finest glass would themselves desire to keep the information close, which led to lost information every time a master died unexpectedly, and a complete shock to the people of Venice when Neri’s book was released. Before 1800 AD, Neri’s book was translated into Latin, German, and French (3), and become the standard reference for glassmaking across Europe. (1) Additionally, ten years after the book was published, “an English company sent six Italian glassmaking artisans to the Jamestown colony,” despite the fact that the Venetian government had moved all glassmakers to an island named Murano in order to keep the secret years before the book was published. Neri's book also allowed glassmakers to build on old techniques and revolutionize the industry. Previously, pioneering families, colonists, and people in old villages all had to make due with substitutes like oiled paper. While this allowed light in, it failed to provide a view of the outdoors. With good high clarity glass, which was much more transparent, people could see their neighborhoods better, which some claim led to an increased respect for good hygiene; this in turn saved hundreds upon thousands of lives. (2). Neri, a Catholic priest, would be glad to know that his book has been a huge contribution both to the field of glassmaking and to the field of medicine. (3) His contributions helped Galileo Galilei, another Florentine discover the moons of Jupiter. Shortly after Neri’s death in 1914, Galileo contributed to the distribution of this book by sending a copy to a friend in Rome. (1)

Works Referenced

1. Antonio Neri: Alchemist, Glassmaker, Priest https://www.cmog.org/article/antonio-neri-alchemist-glassmaker-priest  
2. Antonio Neri Reveals the Secrets of Glassmaking And Helps Make High Quality Glass Available To The World https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/antonio-neri-reveals-secrets-glassmaking-and-helps-make-high-quality-glass-available-world 
3. Antonio Neri http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10752a.htm 
4. The art of glass : wherein are shown the wayes to make colour glass, pastes, enamels, lakes, and other curiousities https://archive.org/details/TheArtOfGlassWhereinAreShownTheWayesToMakeAndColourGlass