The Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy: A Monastic & Medicinal Tradition
Article by Astrid Bridgwood
The Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella— most commonly referred to as the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy or Apothecary— is Italy’s oldest operating pharmacy and perhaps the oldest in the world, featuring recipes which can trace their history back over eight hundred years. This essential Florentine cultural and historical relic was founded in 1221, when Dominican friars established the convent of Santa Maria Novella. These monks began to cultivate a garden, using the herbs to create “balms, salves, and medicines for their infirmary,” products whose quality and efficacy were quickly recognized (Atlas Obscura). Now, the Pharmacy has 75 stores worldwide with absolutely no advertising, instead relying on word-of-mouth advocacy from patrons and proponents who have formed a “cult following,” (Kickham). The Pharmacy draws more than 2,000 patrons a day, learning about the history of the Pharmacy and its products, purchasing the traditionally handmade cosmetics and fragrances from the shop, even visiting a museum which showcases original “16th and 17th-century pharmaceutical pottery,” and archaic reference books, which include alchemic treatments for the Black Death, (Kickham). The Pharmacy’s founding monastic population initially focused on treatments for the Black Death, using the “petals of roses [to combat] pestilence,” (Kickham). Later, the pharmacists and friars developed fragrances from perfume to an emblematic 17th-century potpourri, which are used by the imperial houses of Japan and the United Arab Emirates and are even featured in contemporary American films such as “Casino Royale,” (2006) and “Portrait of a Lady,” (1996) (Kickham).
These Dominican monks— a monastic order devoted to poverty and charity— arrived in Florence in the last years of Saint Dominic in 1219. These followers of Saint Dominic took over what was then Santa Maria Delle Vigne, transforming it into a monastery and supported by “Verona-born Dominican, later known as Saint Peter the Martyr, who attracted huge crowds to his sermons,” at what came to be known as Santa Maria Novella, formerly Santa Maria Delle Vigne (Husain). By 1381, the Dominican monks had established their infirmary, which later endured 15th-century Florentine political turmoil resulting from attacks on the Medici dynasty by Dominican monk Savonarola. Luckily, the unrest resulting from Savonarola’s preachings (the “bonfire of vanities,”) largely did not affect the Pharmacy and the residing monk’s medicinal practices, and the Pharmacy persisted.
Figure 1: View of the ornate wood counters and cabinets of the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy, Courtesy Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella (2023).
The Pharmacy officially opened to the public in 1542, and in 1612 it was formally christened with its current title (“Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica,”) by the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Pharmacy was run by notable Dominican personalities, “such as Angiolo Marchissi, a great medicine and alchemy scholar [and] Cosimo Bucelli, the aromatist who began to pair medicinal properties with pleasurable ones,” (Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella). The traditional recipes and methods of preparation established by these monks persist to this day, a repertoire which includes “the worlds of cosmetics, fragrances, and wellness products,” according to the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy’s website. Such recipes include the “Seven Thieves Vinegar,” or the “Aceto dei Sette Ladri,” smelling salts whose name emerges from a “band of seven men who robbed corpses during the plague,” who allegedly “doused themselves in strong vinegar,” for protection (Atlas Obscura). Smelling salts— and vinegars— were said to drive away illnesses like the Black Death, which were caused by miasmatic or foul scents. Another one of the monk’s specialties was a rosewater distillate from 1380 (“Acqua di Rose,”) originally used as an antiseptic to disinfect homes and protect from the 14th-century plague; a product which remains notably popular today, though its function has obviously changed: “… it’s now used as an astringent toner and perfume,” says Gianluca Foa, the pharmacy’s commercial director, (Joshi). A similarly fragrant specialty is the pharmacy’s “Armenian Paper,” or “Carta D’Armenia,” a 16th-centry paper incense which burns without flame and scents the air with “a mixture of infusions of resins and oriental spices,” (Atlas Obscura).
Figure 2: “Catherine de' Medici wears the black cap and veil of widow, after 1559.” Portrait from the workshop of François Clouet, c. 1560. Oil on Panel.
Figure 3: Acqua della Regina (Contemporary Product Image, © 2023, Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella).
The Pharmacy was popularized by a member of the Renaissance’s most notorious family: Catherine de Medici. As the story is told by the Pharmacy itself, when Catherine de Medici left Florence in 1533 to marry the future king of France, she sent for the perfumer Renato Bianco, who became known as René le Florentin, from whom she commissioned a “special essence,” which is currently known as “Acqua di Santa Maria Novella.” Originally titled “Acqua della Regina (the “Queen's Water”),” the perfume is the oldest fragrance of the Pharmacy still sold today (Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella). The monks revolutionized perfume creation with this scent, using alcohol as the perfume’s base instead of then-popular scent bases like olive oil or vinegar, which would inevitably rot and emit a rancid scent (Joshi). Much like the Medici family’s patronage of the arts, Catherine de Medici’s support of the pharmacy and its perfumers allowed for the Pharmacy to become notably more widespread, leading to its 17th-century public opening.
The Pharmacy was not without controversy, however, as many monks grew concerned over the secular successes— impious efforts of financial temptation which might “distract from the Christian pieties,” leading to the Pharmacy’s suspension of production in the 1600s (Husain). Damiano Beni opposed another period of instability in the Pharmacy’s history: the 1866 confiscation of church property by the Italian government, who transferred ownership to a secular layman— Beni’s nephew— who reclaimed the Pharmacy from the state, and whose ancestors remain involved in the Pharmacy to this day (Husain). This move into secular ownership allows for the Pharmacy to expand its product line in the 1700s, leading to the Pharmacy’s current alcohol manufacturing efforts, which proved lucrative.
Figure 4: “Religious Frescoes,” © 2023, Officina Profumo- Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. Courtesy of CNN Travel.
The Pharmacy remains in its original building, an opulent architectural feat which indicates an immaculate conversation of history featuring “vaulted ceilings, ornate gilding, frescoes, walnut cabinetry, glass-stoppered decanters full of colorful potions, marble floors, glass-stained windows, bronze statues, and antique apothecary scales and mortars,” (Atlas Obscura). The Pharmacy houses both library and a museum, serving to present the history of the institution and its various relics and articles, ranging from books to antique terra-cotta apothecary jars. The library is housed in what was formerly the sacristy of the church, displaying centuries-old books “handwritten by the Dominican monks,” chronicling their traditional recipes and processes; the library structure retains its biblical 1380 frescoes by Early Renaissance painter Mariotto di Nardo, making the very walls of the structure historically and culturally significant (Joshi). The former Sacristy also functions as a storeroom, (dubbed “The Room of Waters,”) which historically kept the fragrant “waters,” or “aqueous products from the distillation of herbs and roses,” stored in glass vials or copper containers and equipped with “pitchers” for decanting, a custom “that remained in use until the end of the 19th century,” (Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella). The museum was founded in the 20th century, transforming the traditional Florentine shop in Via della Scala 16 into what is now a “prominent touristic and cultural destination,” (Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella).
Figure 5: “Ancient and Modern,” © 2023, Officina Profumo- Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. Courtesy of CNN Travel.
The Pharmacy’s building is itself a part of Florentine history. As detailed on the Pharmacy’s website, the merchant Dardano Acciaioli felt ill between the years of 1332 and 1334, and was treated by these same founding Dominican friars using “extracts of bearberry,” (Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella). After his recovery, he financed what is still the main hall of the museum-storefront at Villa dell Scala 16: The Chapel of San Niccolò. Also called “The Great Sales Hall,” this chapel was restored by Damiano Beni, the last monk to act as the Pharmacy’s director. Beni oversaw the addition of decorative frescoes by Paolino Sarti, depicting the four continents, alongside wooden furnishings in 14th-century style which includes both the long counter and two wooden statues, which directly reference the efficacy of the Pharmacy’s products and the importance of healthy living. Most recently, the Pharmacy inaugurated its garden, which is now open to the public as of 2014. Historically, the friars safeguarded their herbs and flowers within the convent walls, so as to retain the secrecy of their ingredients and thus the efficacy of their recipes, a method called “Hortus Colcusus,” meaning literally “enclosed garden,” ((Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella). Each element of the garden was symbolic, from the addition of the fountain as the “source of life,” to the placement and organization of plants— “each component was there to simulate the five senses,” according to the Pharmacy’s website. The practice of enclosed gardening persists near the Villa Petraria (a country residence in the hamlet of Castello), facilitated by the Pharmacy’s staff.
Figure 6: Landscape View of Gardens (Courtesy of Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, 2023).
The Pharmacy retains immense cultural importance, even in modernity, making it vital to one’s experience of Florence. According to travel logs documenting contemporary visitor experience, the staff presents options to explore the modern offerings of the Pharmacy, and read the history of each product. Each fragrance is unique and layered, with subtle notes compared to “wine.” The structure’s identity as a former papal residence and its active presence as a piece of living, embodied architectural history defies its unassuming exterior with an ornate and highly decorative interior which demands entry and exploration. Said best by CNN Travel writer Prachi Joshi, “… this historical pharmacy and perfume museum is (…) further proof that in Florence you can find art – and aromas – in the most unexpected places.”
RESOURCES & REFERENCES:
Atlas Obscura, “Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy.” 18th June, 2010. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/santa-maria-novella-pharmacy. Accessed 4th Feb., 2023.
Husain, Mishal. “Heaven Scent: A 600-year-old pharmacy started by Florentine monks is now a trendy global marketer of perfumes and medieval elixirs.” Feb., 2008. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/heaven-scent-17187251/. Smithsonian Magazine, Arts & Culture. Accessed 4th Feb., 2023.
Joshi, Prachi. “Santa Maria Novella, Florence’s 600-year-old perfume store.” 27th March, 2015. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/florence-apothecary/index.html. CNN Travel. Accessed 4th Feb., 2023.
Kickham, Debbi. “Santa Maria Novella, The World's Oldest Pharmacy, Is A Best-Kept Beauty Secret.” 30th May, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/debbikickham/2018/05/30/santa-maria-novella-the-worlds-oldest-pharmacy-is-a-best-kept-beauty-secret/, Forbes Lifestyle & Travel. Accessed 4th Feb., 2023.
Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, “A Story that Began in 1221.” https://eu.smnovella.com/pages/story. Accessed 4th Feb., 2023.
Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, “About Us.” https://us.smnovella.com/pages/about-us. Accessed 4th Feb., 2023.
Astrid Bridgwood is a student of Art History, Philosophy, and Arts Leadership & Administration currently serving as a Gallery Assistant for the Department of Art, Design, and Music, with ongoing projects focusing on liberal arts education at Black Mountain College. In her free time, she writes and publishes poetry (read more here) and hopes to pursue a career as a Professor of Art History.