The inspiration for this lamp comes from an
almost legendary figure born in dark times, it’s
appropriate to say. When there was still no lighting
and city streets were dark and inaccessible
places, walking around at night could become a
scary experience. Not only for the risk of getting
lost but also for the high probability of being
attacked and robbed. Around the middle of the
15th Century, this problem was deeply felt in one
of the most flourishing Italian cities, Venice. It is
right here that the Doge approves a law that
obliges anyone wandering around the town
after 3 am to carry a lamp.
This is how the job of the còdega appears:
he is the one, usually of humble extraction,
who accompanied the nobles around the city
lighting the street with a lantern.
The origin of the name seems to derive from the
Greek οδηγός (odigos), which means “to drive”.
He was, therefore, the trusted person who led,
guided the masters.
This figure remained in history, not only in that
of Venice, until the widespread diffusion of
public lighting, which will only arrive more than
300 years later.
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DROP BATTERY LAMP
