Eight Centuries of History

In 1221, twelve Dominican friars obtained formal use of the site known as Santa Maria inter Vineas, just outside Florence's inner city walls. There they established the Hortus Conclusus, the Orto dei Semplici, a botanical garden cultivated for the community's infirmary. It is from this point that the institution's continuity is counted.

Dardano Acciaioli, a merchant from one of Florence's most powerful banking families, fell gravely ill. The friars treated him with extracts of bearberry, and on his recovery he financed the construction of the Chapel of San Niccolò, next to the infirmary. That chapel became the Sala dei Principi, the room that serves today as the main sales hall at Via della Scala 16. It exists because of a cure.

The earliest confirmed record of aromatic production dates to 1381: the documented sale of acque profumate, among them Acqua di Rose, distilled from Rosa damascena. Its purpose was primarily medical, used to disinfect rooms during plague epidemics and taken diluted in wine as a medicament.

Caterina de' Medici (1519–1589) left Florence to marry Henry, Duke of Orléans, the future Henry II of France. Among those who accompanied her was Renato Bianco, a Florentine perfumer trained in the aromatic tradition of the Dominican friars. The fragrance associated with this event, Acqua della Regina, remains in production today.

On 15 October 1612, a council of the convent voted to establish a public pharmacy. Simone Marchi was appointed the first Director, marking the transition from a closed monastic laboratory to an institution open to clients from outside. The enterprise was recognised by Grand Duke Cosimo II and took the name Antica Spezieria di Santa Maria Novella.

Under Grand Duke Ferdinando II, Fra' Angiolo Marchissi received the title Fonderia di Sua Altezza Reale. In 17th-century terms, a fonderia was an advanced alchemical distillation laboratory. The title established the Officina as the official supplier to the Medici court.

Fra' Cosimo Bucelli, director from 1743 to 1788, compiled the manuscript Segreti della Fonderia Granducale, among the most significant documents in the archive. It contains recipes for Pot Pourri, Alkermes and a range of medicinal compounds, many of which remain in production today.

Following the French annexation of Tuscany in 1808, a Napoleonic decree of dissolution threatened the Officina's existence. Fra' Tommaso Valori, director since 1788, obtained French commercial patents and kept the business running. In September 1813 he bought the spezieria outright from the French government, at his own expense, to save it from permanent loss. After the Lorraine restoration, in 1817, he returned it to the Dominican Order.

Fra' Damiano Beni converted the medieval Acciaioli chapel into a grand Neo-Gothic sales room, the Sala dei Principi, designed for Grand Tour visitors. As modern medicine eroded the market for traditional herbal remedies, he turned the Officina towards cosmetics and fine fragrances, introducing the term Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica on packaging and in the ledgers. After the post-unification suppression of religious orders under Law 3036 of 7 July 1866, Cesare Augusto Stefani formally registered the business as a secular private enterprise in 1871. The name Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella became its legal commercial identity.

Giorgio Ugo Stefani (director 1890–1939) developed the label designs for Acqua di Rose and other core products that remain the visual foundation of the packaging today. The Arno flood of 1966 damaged the premises and left severe harm to the frescoes in the adjacent church. In 2006, Angeli di Firenze was created in tribute to the Angeli del Fango, the volunteers who came from across the world to rescue Florence's cultural heritage. In 2021, Italmobiliare completed its acquisition and the Officina launched the Firenze 1221 Eau de Cologne collection, marking its 800th year. In 2022, the I Giardini Medicei Eau de Parfum collection extended the range into the Eau de Parfum category.