The history of lace from the small island Burano is lost in the night of time and is linked to conjectures or legends. For some the typical Buranella processing would be connected to the seafaring tradition of the inhabitants of the small island, linked to fishing and consequently to the manufacture and repair on site of nets.

The first evidence of the flourishing of the Venetian lace trade dates back to the end of the 15th century, accompanied and followed by a real publishing boom in Europe and Italy – especially in Venice – which saw the publication of hundreds of books, Model drawings, designs for lace and embroidery, designed by the major engravers and printers of the time.

Over the years, Burano lace gained international fame. Rare and precious commodity, it became part of the trousseau of several European families of prime importance: at the coronation of Richard III of England (22 June 1483) Queen Anna wore a rich cloak adorned with lace by Burano; the Tudor family, Caterina de’ Medici, Bianca Cappello and several others.

In 1665 the point in air – typical of the Burano processing – became point de France, thus starting a strong competition with the product of Burano. To this were added heavy import duties, which although causing commercial damage, did not prevent the lace of Burano to thrive. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, about 600 lace-making machines were used in the Venetian workshop “Ranieri e Gabrielli”. But the end of the Republic of Venice (1797) coincided with the beginning of a slow crisis: the production of lace became an exclusively family activity, and the number of lace-making began to decline, The risk of this typical production, which has lasted for centuries, being exhausted.

In 1978, the Venetian public bodies (Municipality, Province, Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Authority, Autonomous Tourist Company) joined the Andriana Marcello Foundation (founded in 1961) in a “Consortium for the laces of Burano”, in order to revive and retrain the art of lace. In 1981, the Museum of Lace was created at the site of the old school, where various vocational training courses and important historical exhibitions were organized. The building and its collections were subsequently affected by a long period of restoration, reorganisation and redevelopment, which ended with the new inauguration of the museum on 25 June 2011.