Vittorio Costantini

Vittorio Costantini is a Venetian flameworking maestro, known for his amazingly detailed glass insects, birds, and sea creatures. Son of a fisherman and a lace maker, Vittorio was born on the island of Burano in the Venetian lagoon and raised with an appreciation for the small animals which inhabited the lagoon where his father worked every day.

At the age 11, Vittorio initially began working hot glass at the furnace as an apprentice. Flameworking became a hobby which he practiced in the evenings. At age 29, Vittorio opened his own studio on the island of Venice and began concentrating fully on his flameworking.

In this photo, Vittorio is making an octopus at the torch, using a very thin stringer of glass to add individual suckers to each leg on the octopus.

Photo credit: Wesley Fleming, 2004

This photo is of one of the display cases in Vittorio's studio on Fondamenta Nuove in Venice. He is obviously quite prolific!

Photo credit: Wesley Fleming, 2004