Venice Says Goodbye To Tramontin, Master Gondola Builder

The Church of the Carmini filled with mourners yesterday for “Tramontin” Alberto Vitucci Nedis, 83, the last of the “squerarioli”, a school of master gondola builders that had traced their methods back to the 19th century.

Tramontin was a beloved figure, a Venetian institution, and had a hand in building literally thousands of gondolas. He thought of them as “creatures” he brought into the world. It was on the back of one of these creatures that he was rowed through the lagoon into the next world on the cemetery island of San Michele by his friend, Gianfranco Vianello, better known as “Crea”, one of Venice’s most revered rowing champions. Tramontin was buried next to another of his celebrated squerarioli compadres, Nino Giuponi, who had died three years earlier.

Tramontin was a purist, saddened by the shortcuts that some other gondola builders took.  To him, a gondola could only be made from traditional materials and woods, without glue or putty, and never with something as base and modern as marine plywood. Rather than using meters, he used the obscure “passetto Veneto”, a method of measurement that dates back to the days of the Venetian Republic. He never used a notary or contracts, nor required deposits for work to be completed, instead relying on handshakes and word-of-honor. The secrets of his craft were never written down, but were passed on via apprenticeship to his son, Roberto.

As Venice struggles to fight the artificiality and theme-park ambience that has come with unabated mass tourism, the passing of authenticity has a palpable poignance. It's supply and demand. The value of the authentic culture has skyrocketed, since so very little of it is left.

Comments

[Marisa Pellegrini]

As Venice's master builder's are aging, they need to pass their craft on to the next generation. I was lucky enough to visit the American gondola builder when I was is Venice last week. His name is Thom Price and his associate gave us a tour of the squero. If you are ever in Venice, you must go on the tour--only Tuesdays and Fridays at 10:30am. But you can visit his website at www.squero.com.

[Pamela]

Ten years ago on a trip to Venice, I became friends with some rowers who told me about Tramontin and Crea. Their gondole were revered the same way one would prize a Stradavarius violin.

I was allowed to peer in the squero at a lunch break, and there he was. I really wanted to purchase a forcula or ferro, but somehow, I didn't want to be crass and ask.

It's a moment I'll treasure even more now that he has passed on.
======================================
I knew Crea's brother, Pauly, pretty well. He used to fix my old 10 horse Evinrude outboard motor whenever it got sick, which was often. His shop is on La Giudecca, in the Centro Nautico. Crea's workshop is there too ... he once patched my boat. Good guy. By the way, the restaurant, Mistral, is directly above Crea's workshop, facing the lagoon. I recommend it. A strange spot for a restaurant.
N.

[RP]

That was terribly poignant.

[Jeff Booth]

I'm terribly sad to hear that Tramontin just passed away. I l ived behind his squero, on the Zattere, and met him on a few occasions over the last year. He rarely remembered me, the clumsy American, but I was honored to shake his hand and see the squero and listen on a few ocassions when he talked about gondolas and the city. I'm in Los Angeles right now, and very sad for his family, and the city, which is his extended family.

[Joanne Tramontin Palmer]

I am intrigued with this as I was told many times when I was young that my grandparents people were Gondola builders, I came upon this article just by surfing the net, now I would like to hear from someone that could tell me more about the family.