Since the Renaissance, glass has been associated with Venice like no other material. It represents a local industry and its international prestige. While research has mostly focused on high-end products, this chapter takes a broader approach. It illuminates the entire spectrum of glass production and its significance for the economy and trade of Renaissance Venice. It investigates how glass as a material affected the society of Renaissance Venice. In general, the low price of glass made it in

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... neral affordable to growing social groups and its distinct malleability allowed them to participate in the formal and aesthetic ideals of the Renaissance. Given the industry's economic and trading importance, glass was ubiquitous in Venice; diverse professional and social groups were engaged in it, generated a shared sense for the material and developed a nuanced lexicon that was used in social, cultural, and religious debates. In material, pictorial as well as literary form glass and its material features served to establish affective regimes that served to navigate through an increasing material world and contemporarily shape a community's identity.