May is the month of Rosa centifolia, the hundred-petalled rose, cultivated for centuries as a primary material in perfumery.

At Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, it is the botanical foundation of two Eau de Cologne compositions from the Firenze 1221 collection: Rosa Gardenia, which pairs it with gardenia introduced to European botanical gardens in the eighteenth century, and Rosa Novella, named after Santa Maria Novella, the church and convent from which the Officina takes its origins.

Visit Santa Maria Novella on Ground Floor.