The curtain has risen on “Red Crystal Curtain,” a highly acclaimed work by the Grande Dame of Glass, Maria Grazia Rosin, in the salons of Palazzo Bragadin, the Renaissance residence of Sigrid and Xavier de Montrond located in the Castello district of Venice.
It is a successful staging that can be discovered during the ninth edition of Venice Glass Week, the highly anticipated international event that pays tribute to glass artists from September 13 to 21, 2025.
The Festival received hundreds of applications from 54 countries. The lucky ones selected will exhibit in Venice, Murano, and Mestre in 130 different venues. In galleries, palaces, workshops, and conferences, they will capture the imagination of a knowledgeable, passionate, and increasingly demanding audience since the first edition launched in 2017.
This special artistic moment has a new hashtag: #TheMagicOfGlass.
It perfectly captures the enchantment that grips us when we see the Red Crystal Curtain made of Murano glass, installed in the Palazzo Bragadin, amid antique furniture, mirrors, and heavy drapes framing the bay windows overlooking the canal.
“It could be the curtain of the opera house in the time of Carlo Goldoni,” says Venetian artist Maria Grazia Rosin, who casually poses for photos during our meeting at curtain time in the theaters. Between dusk and dawn, when the light fades and the glass sculptures take on an air of mystery.
What we see in this curtain is not only the beauty of the glass, its transparency and the assembly of the pieces, but also what it tells us. This work is a tribute to the glassmakers of Murano, an ode to slowness and patience, in the warmth of the gesture and the flashes of light.
Maria Grazia Rosin sublimates glass, her favorite material. She summons it, diverts it, amuses it, makes it speak. She creates a red velvet stage curtain, then draws it back to observe Venetian life, its customs and traditions. The commedia dell’arte continues in the 21st century on the stage of Venice, La Serenissima.
What work of art could break up the rhythm of the immense rooms of a palazzo better than a glass theater curtain?
It took some thinking… One or more crystal decorations can thus adorn houses of 500, 3,000 square meters, and more. Countess Sigrid de Montrond fell in love with Maria Grazia Rosin’s triptych-shaped crystal curtain, which naturally found its place in the reception room of her palace.
This astonishing work is now the star attraction of the Palazzo Bragadin. It captivates, intrigues and inspires.
Maria Grazia Rosin, the Grande Dame of Glass, honored at the 9th edition of Glass Week 2025
Maria Grazia Rosin needs no introduction. The Grande Dame of Glass is a well-known artist in Italy, whose fame extends far beyond the country’s borders. Her works are part of the permanent exhibitions at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Kunst Museum in Düsseldorf, the Museum of Art in Indianapolis, the Montreal Museum, and of course, the Murano Glass Museum. She exhibits regularly in Europe, particularly in Italy, where she is a leading figure in Murano glass art.
Born in 1958 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, she studied at the Cortina Art Institute, then in Venice under the guidance of painter and engraver Emilio Vedova, an anti-fascist activist and informal expressionist painter. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice in 1983. In 1992, she collaborated with the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation and took off working with Murano glass.
Her unique works are distinguished by their creativity, visual aesthetics, and the quality of the material. Over time, she has collaborated with Murano glassmakers such as Pino Signoretto, Andrea Zilio, and Gianluca Pagnin.
Her background as a painter and graphic designer allows Maria Grazia Rosin to imagine precise, sophisticated, and complex pieces. She draws inspiration from the underwater world and animals, but also from human beings, their neuroses, and the little pills they take to feel better…
She is noted for her latest creations, including octopus-shaped chandeliers. Using cutting-edge technology, she creates installations of glass, light, and music in an oceanic, gelatinous universe populated by primitive creatures.
She also designs vases, detergent bottles (for chic housewives under 50), glasses for “swallowing the pill”…
This artist surprises us and offers a distanced view of our era, with a touch of humor and a gentle smile. The Lagoon is never far away. It reassures, soothes, and calms passions.
Glass Week is in full swing. In a room at the Palazzo Bragadin, we discover the delicate yet powerful lamps, candle holders, and chandeliers created by Sigrid de Montrond.
These baroque-style light fixtures transport us to a time when soft lighting enhanced the complexion of the lady of the house and her friends. The generous bonbonnières evoke a time when people savored violet or rose-flavored candies.
The music of Joseph Haydn enchants the room and adds to the nostalgia for a bygone world that seems to have been resurrected at the Palazzo Bragadin.
Could our host be a magician?
First a costume designer, then an interior decorator, Sigrid de Montrond “fell in love” with antiques that no one else was interested in. She turned her attention to broken or dismantled light fixtures that had been abandoned at the Murano glassworks for several decades. The oldest ones date back to the 18th century. A treasure trove!
“I wanted to recover these dormant pieces and give them a new lease of life,” explains the designer, who, like in a fairy tale, transformed herself into Sleeping Beauty.
Innovative craftsmanship seems to flourish naturally in Venice, bringing together tradition and modernity in a happy marriage.
It was in her own gallery in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the Atelier Visconti, named after the street, that the Countess exhibited her collection called “Luce di Murano” in 2024. Some pieces, including monumental compositions, have found their way into prestigious homes in Europe and Dubai.
She gave us a preview of her adventure in an article published in Luxus Magazine on April 18, 2024.
Sigrid de Montrond loves to dress palaces, but also women.
She excels at sewing glass to create… necklaces. But what necklaces!
Each piece of jewelry is unique, meticulously handcrafted from a careful selection and subtle assembly of pieces from antique Murano chandeliers.
The necklace becomes the centerpiece of an outfit, imposing not only because of its size, but also its flamboyance. Enough to dazzle at dinner parties in the city!
The collection entitled “L’affaire du collier” (The Necklace Affair) is a nod to the affair of the queen’s necklace that made headlines at the end of the 18th century. The famous diamond set has inspired many works, including the new plot of the Marie-Antoinette series, available on Canal+.
Sigrid de Montrond is a trendy designer, in tune with the vintage fashion trend. Antique glass replaces diamonds. This has not escaped the attention of her customers…
“When you wear one of my necklaces, it’s best to be careful if you don’t want it to break!” emphasizes Sigrid de Montrond, who wears one of her creations with great elegance.
It’s not a question of attending vernissages or other social events, because glass is a noble and fragile material that requires the utmost care.
From Venice to Paris, Sigrid de Montrond is the best ambassador for her necklaces. A quick glance in the mirror of the state room, and she is ready to welcome the first guests of Glass Week.
Mark your calendars for Glass Week from September 13 to 21, 2025.
Palazzo Bragadin
Discover Maria Grazia Rosin’s “Red Crystal Curtain” from September 13 to 20, 2025, by appointment only from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Calle del Cafetier 6480
Contacts: [email protected], +33 6 11169889
[email protected], +39 338 4645965
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Featured photo: Maria Grazia Rosin, the Grande Dame of Glass, in front of her work “Red Crystal Curtain” at the Palazzo Bragadin ©Corine Moriou
