The Doge’s eyewear

Sunglasses in 18th-century Venice The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana (the Marciana National Library), Comitato Venezia, the Eyewear Museum at Pieve di Cadore and Stazione Sperimentale del Vetro di Murano have organized the exhibition "The Doge's eyewear. Sunglasses in 18th-century Venice" in the Library's Sale Monumentali (Sansoviniana Library) from June 14 through July 13 2014.   Curated by Roberto Vascellari, the exhibition tells the story of eyewear, especially in Venice where the Murano glassworks made the first lenses for protecting eyes from the sun. These green lenses in the shape of eyeglasses or transparent "mirrors" were worn by ladies or children when they traveled by gondola. Recent studies have shown that the original 18th-century lenses have considerable properties for filtering the UV light that is notoriously harmful for the eyes, which is very interesting because UV rays were not discovered until the following century.   About fifty unique and very rare items are on display: gondola spectacles and glass from private collections in Italy and elsewhere in Europe - one of which is said to have been owned by Doge Alvise IV Giovanni Mocenigo – integrated with others from the Museo Correr, the Museo dell'Occhiale at Pieve di Cadore, a painting from the Banca Popolare of Venice, and books from the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.