Venetian gondolas are legally required to be painted black due to a strict 16th-century sumptuary law passed to stop nobles from aggressively flexing their wealth with absurdly decorated boats.

A closer look

Venetian gondolas are legally required to be painted black due to a strict 16th-century sumptuary law passed to stop nobles from aggressively flexing their wealth with absurdly decorated boats. Wealthy Italian families used to cover their personal watercraft in gold leaf, expensive silks, and obnoxious bright colors in a non-stop nautical measuring contest until the government finally mandated a standardized matte black finish for everyone. The romantic, sleek aesthetic you happily pay eighty euros for on your honeymoon is actually the direct result of historic bureaucrats getting annoyed at rich people for being entirely too tacky. We love to pretend a quiet gondola ride is a deeply poetic Italian tradition, but it is basically the historical equivalent of forcing all sports cars to be painted beige