The Art of Perfumery is a "Made in Italy" Invention

That Catherine de' Medici, born in Florence in 1519 and later Queen of France, was the inventor of the corset, women's underwear, and high-heeled shoes is fairly well known. However, the fact that she was the one who introduced the art of perfumery to France is a much lesser-known piece of history.

During the Renaissance, aromatic fragrances took center stage in Italy, with one of the most famous being Acqua della Regina, which Catherine de' Medici commissioned from her trusted perfumer, Renato Bianco, as a wedding gift for her marriage to Henry II of France.

The wedding of Caterina de' Medici

How many of us, when thinking of perfume and the fragrance industry, immediately associate it with France?

Indeed, one cannot deny that our French cousins have an exceptional ability to enhance and promote anything that originates from or passes through their territory. In this case, they knew how to "nurture and cultivate" a seed that was entirely Made in Italy.

The art of perfumery was imported from Italy, specifically by Catherine de' Medici and her trusted court perfumer, Renato Bianco—who was later renamed René le Florentin in France. Let’s see how it happened!

The Renaissance and the Birth of Perfumery

In the 16th century, the first aromatic waters, enriched with exquisite floral bouquets, dominated the Italian Renaissance fragrance scene.

Perfume, which had been largely forgotten during the dark Middle Ages, had played a vital role in Imperial Rome, both for religious and hedonistic purposes. It once again became an essential element of social life, particularly among the French bourgeoisie, just as it had already been in Italy.

In 16th-century Florence, perfumes were regularly worn by high-ranking ladies, particularly aromatic waters scented with lavender, rosemary, orange blossom (neroli), and citrus fruits—an excellence of the Italian territory.

Nearly all Italian monasteries had at least one alchemist monk dedicated to working with herbs and extracting their essences. Initially cultivated for medicinal use, these plants soon began to be used for personal and cosmetic purposes.

The Legend of Renato Bianco

Legend has it that Renato Bianco was one of many orphans raised in the convent of the Dominican friars of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Adopted by the friars, he began working as an apprentice and was eventually entrusted to one of the convent’s most skilled alchemist monks. There, he learned all the secrets of herbal distillation and, upon his mentor’s death, became the sole custodian of this ancient art.

Catherine de' Medici, well aware of his talent, chose him as her court perfumer and also as a personal advisor, given his exceptional ability to navigate various social situations and gather valuable, confidential information.

On October 28, 1533, Catherine married the French noble Henry II in a political marriage arranged and officiated by Pope Clement VII to create an alliance between the Medici family and French nobility.

Acqua della Regina - Officina Profumo Farmaceutica Santa Maria Novella

Acqua della Regina: The Perfume That Crossed Borders

When Catherine traveled to France to meet her future husband, she brought along her trusted perfumer and the fragrance she had commissioned as a wedding gift: Acqua della Regina, a fresh cologne featuring the most fashionable ingredients of the time—aromatic plants like lavender and rosemary, enriched with orange blossom (neroli) and heightened by the fresh, prestigious bergamot from Calabria.

When Catherine arrived in Marseille with her ladies-in-waiting, the local population was fascinated by the strange gold and silver spheres the Queen and her attendants wore around their necks or attached to their belts. These spheres, called bussolotti in Florence, contained scented essences designed to "protect" their olfactory senses from the nauseating odors that permeated the cities.

Beyond introducing perfumes and scented essences to the French court, the Queen also popularized the fashion of perfumed gloves, which she often wore. Her perfumer treated these gloves with a scented balm to eliminate the foul smell caused by the acidic tanning process used for leather, which emitted strong, unpleasant animal-based odors.

The Expansion of Perfumery in France: why the Art of Perfumery is a "Made in Italy" Invention?

After arriving in Paris with Catherine, Renato Bianco opened his own shop on Pont Saint Michel, one of the most elegant streets in the capital. His boutique, René le Florentin—as the French now called him—became a destination for Parisian high society. The perfumer’s creations soon became indispensable among the city’s nobility.

Artisans in the town of Grasse began scenting textiles and leathers, starting a transformation that would make the region, thanks to its mild climate, the ideal place for perfume plant cultivation.

By the early 1600s, the profession of perfumer was officially recognized in Grasse.

Not only were gloves perfumed, but also ladies’ fans and handkerchiefs.

It was in Grasse that the first perfume-making families emerged, establishing the town’s worldwide reputation as the capital of fragrance—a status it still holds today.

The Legacy of Italian Perfumery

Thanks to the work of the Italian perfumer, perfume shops sprang up all over Paris, catering to a society eager for exquisite fragrances.

One of the most renowned creations remains Eau de la Reine—“The Queen of Hungary’s Water”—a citrus-based perfume with a dominant note of Calabrian bergamot, later renamed Eau de Cologne.

The original recipe remains safeguarded in the place where it was first created: the apothecary of the Dominican monastery, which later became the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.