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Calle del Fumo

Campo San Canciano in a watercolour by John Singer Sargent (c. 1882): the campo of the Biri parish, a stone’s throw from the Calle del Fumo
Campo San Canciano in a watercolour by John Singer Sargent (c. 1882): the campo of the Biri parish, a stone’s throw from the Calle del Fumo Photo: John Singer Sargent, Wikimedia Commons, pubblico dominio

Hidden in the heart of the Biri quarter, between San Canciano and the Fondamente Nove, this calle owes its name to a dirty and precious industry: a lampblack factory, the black, greasy powder that was collected by burning carbon-rich substances. It was needed for varnishes, for rubber, and above all for printing ink - the black with which Venice printed the books of half of Europe.

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