Lino Tagliapietra was born in 1934 in Murano, Italy. Tagliapietra was described by Dale Chihuly as “perhaps the world’s greatest living glassblower.” As a boy he was apprenticed to master glassmaker Archimede Seguso. A decade later Tagliapietra had himself achieved the rank of maestro. For decades he executed glass designs with technical virtuosity. An award recipient for the Preserva­tion of Glass Working Technique, he has also received a lifetime achievement award from the Glass Art Society. When he traveled to the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington, the carefully guarded centuries-old Muranese techniques and traditions he shared rocketed American studio glass forward.