Alongside its role of commercial hinge between East and West, from the fifteenth century on Venice was famous also for its shops, and for the richest of them that paved the street linking the trading heart of the city (the Rialto) to its political brain (San Marco and the Doges’ Palace). The Mercerie, whose name derived from merce or merchandise, were especially the reign of mercers’ and drapers’ shops: they sold several kinds of goods and textiles both produced inside the city (with its increasing manufacture power and with the increasing provision of raw and semifinished materials from the mainland) and imported through the networks of international trade. Combining different trades, as it was often the norm, the mercers’ guild was one of the most plentiful and flexible in early modern Venice; although it counted many poor street-sellers among its members, good luck and initiative often enabled someone to become rich. The profession of mercers and haberdashers was mainly devoted to sell goods, with marginal exception in manufactures, such as in the case of hatters. Hence, mercers did not rely on special skills to be tested to become a master, nor on laws regulating apprenticeship, although journeymen and apprentices were widely employed in mercers’ shops. Making use of two membership lists issued in late 17th century, describing every affiliate with his or her role and age, this essay tries to shed light on the activity of these lower grade workers which indeed often contributed significantly to the life on the shop’s floor.

L’inchiesta sullo stato delle Arti promossa dal governo veneziano nell’ultimo quarto del Settecento rilevava, a proposito dei merciai, come non vi fossero “leggi di garzonato, di filiazione, di capomaestri, né prove, né vincoli, fuorchè quello di dover apprender in età tenera la professione, onde poi l’individuo fatto adulto passar possa a giovane di negozio, che perciò non è soggetto al pagamento di alcuna tansa, a cui soccombe al solo momento di diventar capomaestro, e d’aprir bottega.” La corporazione non era infatti coinvolta in alcun processo produttivo, essendo “un aggregato di mercanti venditori a minuto qualunque merce, o estera permessa, o fabbricata nello Stato.” E per questo era una corporazione particolarmente numerosa, comprendente al suo interno sia le più lussuose botteghe delle Mercerie (Bartolomeo Bontempelli era, di fatto, un marzer pur essendo ricchissimo e in contatto con i principali rappresentanti delle corti estere a Venezia tra Cinque e Seicento) sia i venditori alla giornata, che giravano la città con poca merce appresso. In realtà, di garzoni se ne ne impiegavano abitualmente. I ragazzi imparavano a tagliare e piegare le stoffe, a valutarne la qualità, a compiere tutte le operazioni necessarie alla conduzione di una bottega – l’apertura e la chiusura, il trattare con i clienti, la gestione dei pagamenti con i fornitori e con i clienti. Sporadici ma continui sono i contratti di garzonato registrati nei fondi della Giustizia Vecchia da parte di marzeri, e anche quando, come nel 1696, la corporazione si lamentava della diminuzione degli affari e dei tempi difficili, si contavano novanta maestri e 220 tra “gioveni” e garzoni – una sproporzione comunque abituale nelle arti di età moderna ma indicativa dell’ampio ricorso anche per quest’arte dell’istituto del garzonato. In questo contributo, dunque, si presenteranno alcuni casi di studio e un panorama generale relativo all’Arte dei marzeri e ai rapporti tra capomaestro e garzoni.

Un mestiere dove non c’è nulla da imparare? I merciai veneziani e l’apprendistato in età moderna

Isabella Cecchini
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2017-01-01

Abstract

Alongside its role of commercial hinge between East and West, from the fifteenth century on Venice was famous also for its shops, and for the richest of them that paved the street linking the trading heart of the city (the Rialto) to its political brain (San Marco and the Doges’ Palace). The Mercerie, whose name derived from merce or merchandise, were especially the reign of mercers’ and drapers’ shops: they sold several kinds of goods and textiles both produced inside the city (with its increasing manufacture power and with the increasing provision of raw and semifinished materials from the mainland) and imported through the networks of international trade. Combining different trades, as it was often the norm, the mercers’ guild was one of the most plentiful and flexible in early modern Venice; although it counted many poor street-sellers among its members, good luck and initiative often enabled someone to become rich. The profession of mercers and haberdashers was mainly devoted to sell goods, with marginal exception in manufactures, such as in the case of hatters. Hence, mercers did not rely on special skills to be tested to become a master, nor on laws regulating apprenticeship, although journeymen and apprentices were widely employed in mercers’ shops. Making use of two membership lists issued in late 17th century, describing every affiliate with his or her role and age, this essay tries to shed light on the activity of these lower grade workers which indeed often contributed significantly to the life on the shop’s floor.
2017
Garzoni. Apprendistato e formazione tra Venezia e l'Europa in età moderna
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3722554
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