The birthplace of modern fragrance

France gets all the scented glory today, but Florence was the birthplace of modern fragrance. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the boundaries among perfume, pharmaceuticals and prayer were more fluid than they are today, and Tuscan monks were specialists in extracting scents from the flowers and herbs in their cloister gardens. When Catherine de Medici left home in the 1500s to marry the future king of France, the friars of Santa Maria Novella designed a scent for her that could insulate her from the olfactory barbarism she was sure to encounter. — Read more in Lilac, Amber and a Touch of Vanilla: A Perfume Lover’s Guide to Florence at The New York Times.