The Art of Reading: “The Glassmaker”

Tracy Chevalier’s “The Glassmaker” paints a vivid portrait of Orsola Rosso. Orsola is a young woman forbidden by tradition to work with glass who secretly hones her craft, creating delicate beads that sustain her family’s fortunes after her father’s death. Set against the glittering backdrop of Renaissance Venice and skipping across centuries, this sweeping novel follows Orsola and her family through war, plague, love, and loss as she leaves her indelible mark on a male-dominated art form. “I suspect it will take a long time for women to be accepted into the glass world. Hundreds of years.” –Maria Barovier Guided tour, Mint Museum Uptown: Craft + Design, and Modern + Contemporary galleries Mint Museum Randolph: European Art and Delhom galleries to see connections to our art through the lens of a glassmaker shaped by centuries of tradition, transformation, and the fragile beauty of enduring craft.