From the Roman Empire, through Renaissance to modern days, Italy is universally considered the capital of architectural decoration. No wonder Italy is the country with the highest concentration of companies specialized in decorative and tinting products. Because of the morphology of the country and its history, decorative traditions vary from town to town in a remarkable collection of styles, techniques and visual effects.
Venice is famous for the classic colored Venetian plaster and for its beautiful “marmorino”. Even if the origins of these decorations are much older, dating to ancient Roman times, these decorations were rediscovered and made fashionable during the Renaissance, 500 years ago, in Venice.
When the historical buildings of the Republic of Venice were erected all the construction materials and the corresponding techniques were always carefully selected. Even at that time architects were aware of the importance of the durability of buildings in a very hostile environment such as that existing in Venice, characterized by permanent humid air and capillary rise of salty water from the foundations.
Artisans and architects developed a special know-how to manufacture durable materials based on the use of natural substances, the invention of innovative binders, the import of rare color pigments and the development of special application techniques.
The range of colors available for art and decorative uses was technically limited at the time. Most of the pigments in use were earth and mineral pigments, or pigments of biological origin. Pigments from unusual sources such as botanical materials, animal waste, insects and mollusks were harvested and transported over long distances by Venetian traders and navigators.
To fully understand the natural attitude of Venice decorators toward the environment, several factors need to be considered.
For a city that completely extends over water, the transport of decorating materials and pigments and their disposal was, and still is, a huge problem. So the use of natural substrate prepared using terra cotta scraps, leftover stone and marble, was a natural solution to recycle existing materials which were in great abundance at that time.
Materials and pigments have always been selected to better resist the ambient dampness of the lagoon and the unstoppable erosion of the salty water.
Colorful and aesthetically pleasing results could be achieved using colored coatings and plasters in an era dominated by the return of the classical Greco-Roman stone style. Those solutions, compared with the use of slabs of stone, were allowing lighter architectural solutions with less weight to be transmitted to the buildings foundations.
After 500 years the area of Venezia and the North-East of Italy is still a center for innovations and researches in the field of color technology. From this relatively small geographical area companies have expanded their businesses and vision all over the world.
What this tradition has left is a constant attention to quality and a deep respect for the environment and peoples' health.
As part of this tradition, the Tintaly Guangdong production unit works diligently to provide state-of-the-art, clean and affordable tinting solutions to the Chinese and International markets.
