Presentation of the History of Venetian Perfumery organised by the Osmothèque in Paris.

On the 14^th of November 2023, the public presentation on the history of Venetian perfumery organized by Osmothèque, the international perfume conservatory, was held in Paris in the IPAG auditorium.

This is a milestone for the international recognition of the role that Venetian art of perfumery has had in the evolution of world perfumery history.

The introduction by Thomas Fontaine, president of Osmothèque, and Marco Vidal, CEO of The Merchant of Venice and curator of the Venice Perfume Museum, was followed by a reading by historian, Frederick Lauritzen, on the oriental roots of Venetian perfumery and by Isabelle Chazot, President of the Osmothèque Scientific Committee, who analyzed the innovations and production techniques of the Venetian perfumers and then presented the methodology used by the Osmothèque perfumers to interpret an original Venetian recipe from the 1500s, Acqua Arabesca, coming from the Notandissimi Secreti de l’Arte Profumatoria, a recipe book about the art of perfumery, written by Giovanventura Rosetti, Venice 1555.

Acqua Arabesca was studied and then interpreted by three Osmothèque perfumers (Vanina Muracciole, Thomas Fontaine and Marc Antoine Corticchiato) using the original and unobtainable raw materials found in the Conservatory, such as musk and ambergris.

The Parisian public, made up mostly of professionals and students of perfumery, participated in large numbers in a presentation which combined, in a profound and articulate way, the precise historical relationship documented by Lauritzen and Chazot, with the olfactory presentation of the Osmothèque perfumers which therein sealed this initiative by offering a holistic vision of the great history of perfume in Venice.

Marco Vidal, in his introductory note, underlined the importance of the independent role and conservation work that the Osmothèque constantly carries out and that represents a great value for the global perfume industry because it preserves our memory and our heritage as the most important historical perfume library in our sector.  We extend our gratitude to the organizers and to those who followed us.

The presentation will be repeated in Venice on the 4^th of December at the Perfume Museum of Palazzo Mocenigo.