Venice smells lovely, thanks to the Serenissima’s haute couture perfume house, The Merchant of Venice. One of the most elegant fragrance collections on the planet pays homage the beauty of Venetian culture.
The Vidal Family, founders of The Merchant of Venice with more than a 100-year experience in perfumery has carefully curated one hundred exquisite scents to express the love they have for their city.
The Merchant of Venice is a new company founded in 2013. Ancient Venetian Perfumery Art. The scent creations, made in collaboration with highly respected perfumers such as Michael Carby, Roxanne Kirkpatrick, Yann Vasnier, Marion Costero, Nisrine Bouazzaoui Grillié, Carine Boin, Jordi Fernández, Dalia Izem, Gaël Montero and Cyrill Rolland are delightful.
The Merchant Of Venice is a collection of fragrances inspired by explorations and grand voyages. Inspired by ornate perfume bottles, the fragrances capture Venice and its multicultural beauty through inspirational scents. The collection includes Ottoman Amber and Colonie Veniane. It also features Divine Rose Extrait de Parfum, Andalusian soul, Flamant Rose as well as Imperial Emerald (inspired by peacocks), Gyokuro ESP, (meaning jade drew, which is the color of Japanese tea green) and Blue Tea.
The Merchant of Venice scents the Hotel San Clemente Palace Kempinski, Belmond, Hotel Cipriani, Ca’Sagredo Hotel, and Hotel Milano Scala. Pura City, the hotel’s spa, is a great place for those who love fragrances.
Venice’s perfumery tradition began in 1060 with the marriage between Princess Teodora Ducas – daughter of the Emperor of Byzantium, and the Doge Domenico Selvo. By the late Middle Ages, Venice was Europe’s largest trade port. Perfumes arrived from along the “Silk Road” across sea routes controlled by Byzantines and Arabs. Venice was soon the perfume capital in Europe. Ships arrived laden with exotic ingredients from Africa and the East—nutmeg from India, amber and musk from the Black Sea, myrrh from Egypt, and lavender from the Barbary Coast. Marco Polo returned to China with many cultural aspects including body care in 1271.
The fifteenth century saw the foundation of Venice’s corporations of “saponeri” (soap makers), “muschieri” (perfume producers), and “venditori de polvere di cipro” (cypress powder haberdashers). These companies supplied royal courts throughout Europe. A 16th-century book published the first recipes for cosmetics. Notandissimi Secreti dell’Arte Profumatoria – The Noble Secrets of Perfumery art.
The collaboration between the Fondazione Musei Civici of VeniceThe neon-Gothic Palazzo Mocenigo is Sante CroceIts Rubelli wallcoveringsIt is now a museum of perfumes as well as an educational center on the history and culture of Venetian fabrics and costumes. Libreria Studium, a bookshop located in St Marks that offers olfactory courses and composition classes, is another place to learn about scents.
The Merchant of Venice’s flagship store is in a seventeenth-century pharmacy shop in Campo San Fantin. There, customers can buy or try samples and enjoy the olfactory pyramids (top, base, and heart notes) of Philippe Romano’s 2016 Rosa Moceniga (after the eighteenth-century Chinese rose found on Giudecca Island, La Fenice (a tribute to the Gran Teatro the opera La Traviata and its heroine Violetta), Saffron, Rose Flamant, Sauve Petals (rose and peach blossoms), My Pearls and Vinegia 21, an eau de perfume concentrate created for the 1,600th anniversary of the city founded on March 24th in the year 421.
Every Scent Has a Story
It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. Ca’ d’Oro Palace The blue and gold flacon for Arabesque in Venice is inspired by the trade routes that made Venice so important. Other fragrances were inspired by the trade routes that made Venice important.
The “Muda” was a commercial line of the Republic of Venice that traveled by a naval convoy subcontracted by the State to private merchant companies. The system ran continuously between 1315-1533. Muda was distinguished from private enterprises by the fact that it was led by commanders in the Republic. Ship captains are representatives of the state.
The Muda della Tana di Romanie route inspires the Merchant of Venice’s Byzantium Saffron EDP. The Muda del Trafego route (Tunis Alexandria Beirut and Modene), and the Muda dell’ Acque Norte route, took in Spain and France.
Venice is a city that has always been very aromatic. The Merchants of Venice celebrate this today with a fragrant celebration.