Roberto Dei Rossi has been making gondolas for 40 years, one of only four men in Venice capable of this feat.
Yes indeed, it has been several eternities since I have scribbled a post — though I have written many in my mind, as I watched the pages fall off the calendar and blow away in the wind, etc. etc.
I was entangled in the finishing (“ultimating,” in Italian, which is so cool. They can make verbs out of anything.) of a large and very long-drawn-out project of researching and writing an article on the gondola, and more specifically about Roberto Dei Rossi, who makes them. I started the research in February, 2019, and there were many stops along the way, especially that long one during the three-month lockdown from March to May. The story is now online at “Craftsmanship” magazine.
I’m hoping to get back in the groove now with my blog, for any of you who may still be out there waiting to read….
The gondola’s fundamental secret is its asymmetry. The boat isn’t straight, but that’s what makes it go straight when rowed by one oar. Note: Not paddle, not pole, but an oar.The basic ribs of the gondola, made of three pieces of wood, reveal the inherent shape. The straight bottom piece is made of oak, the side pieces are elm.The gondola is built from the inside out; what look like the boat’s sides are temporary pieces (“serci”) that resist the pressure of construction until it’s time for the permanent sides to be attached.It is not falling over. This is the gondola at rest and it’s built this way to make it easier to maneuver through the narrow canals and even to turn on its own axis without any headway (the only boat that can do this).Most rowing clubs have at least one gondola. This view of a gondola returning to the Remiera Francescana clearly shows the boat’s asymmetry.Certainly there are standard measurements, but the work is done largely by eye, followed by fingers and experience. You will never be able to build a gondola by working merely from a plan; there are too many adjustments to be made and these are only discovered by practice.Of course he knows exactly what he’s looking at and either seeing or not seeing. Some infinitesimal change may be at hand; I never asked while he was working. We’d still be there, a year later, if he were to have stopped every time I wanted to know something.He could have all the tools that were ever made, but this folding metal measuring stick is the one that really counts.I almost never saw him wearing glasses. It began to obsess me.It’s strenuous with power tools? It was even harder without them, especially when gondolas were always built with planks of wood instead of marine plywood. Still, a day here can easily wear you out.Or maybe suffocate you a little, from time to time.The inner surfaces are now full of the points of screws. Well, it’s inside, you may think, what difference does it make?It makes enough of a difference that he has to spend some time now cutting off each point, one by one.Eight different kinds of wood are used to make a gondola.Dei Rossi doesn’t carve the decoration; a master carver executes the designs according to the gondolier’s request.Of course he’s happy — after two months of work, the next new gondola is about to be launched.
Fabulous, thank you so much Erla, as usual a visual and literary feast. Our day is richer for your writing.
We also took this opportunity to help support Craftsman Quarterly, what a marvelous publication, thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Fascinating and well-written articles (both). As a long-time former wooden boat owner and rower, this is great stuff. I only pray for the continuation of this priceless tradition.
A thing of beauty–both the gondola and Erla’s acount of its creation. Fabulous photography, too. How lucky we are to have our own correspondent in Venice.
OH is now looking for this “Craftsmanship” magazine! As an expert woodworker himself, who has made small conventional boats and sailed them, he’s always been fascinated by the gondolas when we are in Venice. Thank you yet again for a fascinating piece.
I enjoyed this article, and enjoyed the longer article (and several additional articles) in Craftsmanship online magazine. Thanks for steering me to that. Best wishes to all for the coming holidays, unusual as they will be this year!
Hi Erla, I did miss your blogs and hoped you weren’t ill. Thanks for the lesson in gondola making I never realized it is such an intricate craft. How many gondolas does Dei Rossi make a year?
Keep them coming.
The number can vary from year to year, of course, based on the number of gondoliers who need a new boat. As I noted, though, he told me that he can make five a year. Every time I went to the squero last year there was at least one under construction, and sometimes there were two. It seemed like it was just one after another. Great days. I hope he can hang on till times take a turn for the better.
I’m glad there was enough to interest somebody who knows way more than I do about wood. But even in my ignorance I could grasp that this boat is amazing.
Thanks for the great pictures, Erla. I have struggled for some years to read through my copy of Giuponi’s Arte di far gondole (full of technical terms) Your article will encourage me to revisit the book and improve my understanding of not only the gondola but also set me the brain-stimulating challenge of reading a technical work in Italian peppered with Veneziano.
Sounds like you don’t have enough to do? (Joking.) You might consider starting slowly by reading either “La Gondola” by Carlo Donatelli (Lino participated in the technical trials of the energy expenditure), or “La Gondola” by Gilberto Penzo. Still, if you want to initiate your mountain-climbing career on K2, by all means start with Giuponi….
21 Comments
Magnifico!
Your excellent article is most enjoyable. Congratulations!
Yet, is sad to know there are only 4 builders left who know the entire craft, and that few apprentices are rising.
I once had a dream of apprenticing in a squero, but who really needs a 76 year old apprentice? Maybe someday? 🙂
Thanks for the good read!
He looks mighty pleased with himself, for some reason.
Are their young folks in the wings ready to take over from the current gondola builders?
There is Giacomo at Roberto’s shop, and at least one person, maybe two, at another squero. Don’t know about the others.
G’Day Erla,
Great to see you back after what feels like a long time.
Excellent write-up on the gondola builder. As usual, we learned so much from your blog.
Keep safe and healthy.
Cheers,
Rob and Maria
FarNorthQueensland, Australia
Thanks so much. Yes, I was temporarily banished from my blog but will do my best to make up for it.
Fabulous, thank you so much Erla, as usual a visual and literary feast. Our day is richer for your writing.
We also took this opportunity to help support Craftsman Quarterly, what a marvelous publication, thank you for bringing it to our attention.
I’m really happy you liked my scribble and also glad you got behind the Craftsmanship effort. Thanks!
Lovely photographs, Erla, and I also loved your long article in “Craftsmanship”.
Fascinating and well-written articles (both). As a long-time former wooden boat owner and rower, this is great stuff. I only pray for the continuation of this priceless tradition.
A thing of beauty–both the gondola and Erla’s acount of its creation. Fabulous photography, too. How lucky we are to have our own correspondent in Venice.
Thanks so much but the correspondent needs to get back to corresponding. Am attempting to find my groove again after an unpleasantly long hiatus.
OH is now looking for this “Craftsmanship” magazine! As an expert woodworker himself, who has made small conventional boats and sailed them, he’s always been fascinated by the gondolas when we are in Venice. Thank you yet again for a fascinating piece.
Thanks for writing. I hope I was able to satisfy an expert woodworker — I was definitely learning on the job.
I enjoyed this article, and enjoyed the longer article (and several additional articles) in Craftsmanship online magazine. Thanks for steering me to that. Best wishes to all for the coming holidays, unusual as they will be this year!
And my heartfelt holiday wishes to you and yours, too.
Hi Erla, I did miss your blogs and hoped you weren’t ill. Thanks for the lesson in gondola making I never realized it is such an intricate craft. How many gondolas does Dei Rossi make a year?
Keep them coming.
The number can vary from year to year, of course, based on the number of gondoliers who need a new boat. As I noted, though, he told me that he can make five a year. Every time I went to the squero last year there was at least one under construction, and sometimes there were two. It seemed like it was just one after another. Great days. I hope he can hang on till times take a turn for the better.
Oh! This was lovely, as was your article. I’m an avid woodworker in my spare time and found this delightful. Thank you.
I’m glad there was enough to interest somebody who knows way more than I do about wood. But even in my ignorance I could grasp that this boat is amazing.
Thanks for the great pictures, Erla. I have struggled for some years to read through my copy of Giuponi’s Arte di far gondole (full of technical terms) Your article will encourage me to revisit the book and improve my understanding of not only the gondola but also set me the brain-stimulating challenge of reading a technical work in Italian peppered with Veneziano.
John Flint
Sounds like you don’t have enough to do? (Joking.) You might consider starting slowly by reading either “La Gondola” by Carlo Donatelli (Lino participated in the technical trials of the energy expenditure), or “La Gondola” by Gilberto Penzo. Still, if you want to initiate your mountain-climbing career on K2, by all means start with Giuponi….