Venice to Welcome Perfume Museum at Palazzo Mocenigo to Reclaim its History as a Capital of Perfumery {Fragrance News}

Palazzo Mocenigo in Venice will open its doors from November 1, 2013 to a new museum section dedicated to the art and history of perfumery in La Serenissima.

The palace has been renovated thanks to the support of Mavive Parfums (Pino Silvestre), Drom, the Venice Civic Museums Foundation and the City of Venice, who are participants in this cultural renaissance project which wants to reclaim a presitigious historical heritage going back to the Middle Ages...

“The modern perfume industry really began in Venice in the 10th century,” said Marco Vidal,commercial director for Mavive, a 112-year-old local perfume company that is backing the project in conjunction with the Venice Civic Museums Foundation. To mark the event, the company will open a flagship store in Venice and introduce a “Merchant of Venice” collection of perfumes and personal care products."

Palazzo Mocenigo had been known so far as a textiles and costume museum. The alliance of perfume and fashion is very much a 20th century idea which see its continuity in this cultural association. 

While harboring cultural artifacts such as the books on perfumery, I Notandissimi Secreti de l’Arte Profumatoria, or Herbarium Mattioli, and the Storp collection of about 3000 fragrance flacons by German company Drom, the new museum will develop a pedagogical axis offering olfactory training stations in the midst of a multisensory discovery environment. Perfumers are expected to be invited to help promote the museum's mission.

The outline for the orientation of the museum is that it will be both about perfume and its constituent essences; a garden with plants used in perfumery will also be part of the museum complex. 

The renovation project was entrusted to architect, set and costume designer Pier Luigi Pizzi under the scientific direction of Gabriella Belli, director of the Foundation of Venice Civic Museums and curated by Chiara Squarcina, the head of the Museum.

Venice wishes to highlight its historical role at the crossroads of merchant routes and its key influence in transforming these natural inspirations into an art with an aesthetic conscience. 

Sources: NYT; Mocenigo; Venezia Capitale del Profumo