Bottega del Tintoretto

ABOVE: Roberto Mazzetto, director of the Bottega del Tintoretto, demonstrates printmaking techniques to Juli Van Zyverden, an American neighbor.

In the 1500s, the Venetian artist Jacopo Robusti--better known as Tintoretto--operated a printmaking laboratory in the ground floor of his house on the Fondamenta dei Mori in Cannaregio, a few blocks from his parish church of Madonna dell'Orto. Today, the centuries-old atelier is back in use as a graphic print shop.

The Bottega del Tintoretto--also known as the Stamperia del Tintoretto--was founded in 1985 as a cooperative print shop for Venetian and foreign artists. The shop is outfitted for lithography, etching, relief, and silkscreen printing, using antique equipment that has been restored under the direction of Master Printer Roberto Mazzetto.

Artists can create their own editions with help from Mazzetto, or they can turn their designs over to Mazzetto and his volunteer staff for printing. (Many of the Bottega's 60 professional members choose the latter.) The shop will also provide bound editions for artists, school classes, and other clients.

Take a course or bring a class

The Bottega del Tintoretto offers courses in printmaking, bookbinding, papermaking, typography, watercolor, fresco, mosaic, and sculpture. Some classes are taught one day a week from November to May. Others are intensive five-day seminars in disciplines such as traditional print techniques, lithography, experimental printing, and relief printing (e.g., woodcut).

Academic groups are also welcome. Florence Faval, a Swiss artist on the Bottega's staff, says the ideal class size is 10 students, although up to 15 students can be squeezed into the shop. Teaching is most efficient when the students know Italian or bring an interpreter, but the multilingual Ms. Faval can provide informal translation in French, German, or English.

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