The Scent of Venice: Exploring the History of Perfume with Joan Giacomin

Venice is often described through its beauty. People speak of its canals, its palaces, its art, and its light. They speak of reflections on water, footsteps on worn stone, and the soft theatre of daily life unfolding across campi and calli. But there is another way to understand Venice, one that is less visible and perhaps even more evocative: through scent.

In this episode of Venice Talks, I had the pleasure of speaking with Joan Giacomin, Brand Ambassador for The Merchant of Venice, about the history of perfume in Venice and the extraordinary role the city played in the world of fragrance. It was a conversation that opened a different door onto the Serenissima, inviting us to think not only about what Venice looked like in the past, but also about what it may have smelled like.

Venice and the World of Perfume

Venice has always been a city of exchange. For centuries, it stood at the crossroads of East and West, connecting distant lands through trade, diplomacy, and culture. It was through these routes that precious materials passed through the city: spices, resins, herbs, woods, and flowers, all carrying with them not only economic value but also sensory fascination.

This rich network of trade helped make Venice an important centre in the history of perfume. Fragrance was not simply an accessory or a frivolous luxury. It was tied to status, beauty, ritual, and identity. In a city shaped by commerce and cosmopolitan influence, perfume naturally found fertile ground.

Speaking with Joan made it clear that Venice was not just a passive receiver of alluring ingredients. It was a place where materials were transformed, interpreted, and woven into a distinct cultural world. The city had both the access and the sophistication to elevate perfume into something meaningful and refined.

More Than a Luxury

One of the most fascinating aspects of our conversation was the idea that perfume in historic Venice was not only about wealth or indulgence. Of course, fragrance carried prestige, and it was certainly associated with elegance and refinement, but it also had broader meanings.

Perfume could be part of daily grooming, of social presentation, of intimate rituals, and even of symbolic expression. It belonged to the language of appearance, but also to the language of atmosphere. A scent could suggest power, seduction, devotion, cleanliness, or distinction. In a city as layered and theatrical as Venice, fragrance became part of how people experienced themselves and others.

This is what makes the history of perfume so compelling. It does not sit apart from social history. It moves through it. It tells us how people wished to be perceived, how they related to beauty, and how sensory experience was embedded in everyday life.

What Did Historic Venice Smell Like?

This is perhaps the most seductive question of all. What did Venice smell like in its golden age?

There is no single answer, of course. Venice was, and still is, a city of contrasts. It was a city of salt air and incense, of polished interiors and busy trade, of spices arriving from afar and flowers cultivated closer to home. Its olfactory identity would have been complex, layered, and constantly shifting.

In our conversation, we explored the ingredients and notes that might evoke historic Venice: precious spices, aromatic woods, rich resins, floral elements, and all those imported materials that once passed through the city’s commercial arteries. To imagine Venice through scent is to imagine a city alive with movement, richness, and encounter.

It is also to remember that scent is deeply tied to memory. A fragrance can bring a place closer in an instant. It can suggest mood, era, and emotion with a force that is almost impossible to explain. Perfume does not describe a city in a literal way. It reveals its aura.

The Merchant of Venice and Fragrant Heritage

A particularly interesting part of the episode was hearing how The Merchant of Venice draws on this historical legacy today. The brand is rooted in the city’s perfume heritage, yet it speaks to a contemporary audience. That balance between past and present is not always easy to achieve, but it is part of what makes the conversation around Venetian perfume so rich.

Joan spoke about fragrance not simply as a product, but as storytelling. A perfume can carry echoes of trade routes, craftsmanship, beauty rituals, and cultural memory. It can be inspired by the spirit of Venice without becoming trapped in nostalgia. That is where heritage becomes alive rather than decorative.

In many ways, perfume offers a particularly fitting way to talk about Venice. This is a city that is constantly interpreted through images, yet scent allows for something more intimate and more personal. It asks us to experience Venice not from a distance, but from within.

Why Perfume Still Matters

What I loved most about this episode is that it shows how perfume can open up a much broader conversation. This is not only about fragrance lovers or luxury products. It is about history, identity, craftsmanship, and the many invisible threads that help shape a city.

Perfume matters because it reminds us that culture is not only seen and studied. It is also felt, sensed, remembered. In the case of Venice, that feels especially true. So much of the city’s magic lies in what lingers: a mood, an atmosphere, a trace.

Talking with Joan Giacomin was a wonderful reminder that Venice is not only a feast for the eyes. It is also a place of deep sensory richness, and perfume is part of that story. To explore the history of fragrance in Venice is to discover another layer of the city, one that drifts quietly through time, elegant and elusive, but never entirely gone.

Joan Giacomin’s Book on Beauty in Venice

Beyond the world of perfume, Joan Giacomin has also explored another fascinating side of Venetian beauty culture in her book The Little Book of Make Up in Venice. The book offers a glimpse into the history of make-up in the Venice of the doges, opening a window onto changing ideas of beauty, style, and self-presentation in the city’s past. It feels like a natural companion to any conversation about fragrance, because perfume and cosmetics were never entirely separate worlds. Both were part of the rituals, elegance, and visual language of Venetian life. Through this work, Joan brings yet another layer of Venice into focus, not only as a city to admire, but as one to understand through its gestures of beauty and refinement.

Perfume Making in Venice Today

Another beautiful dimension of Joan Giacomin’s work is her role in the perfume-making experiences offered by The Merchant of Venice at Libreria Studium in San Marco. In this evocative space, where books and fragrance meet, Joan helps guide visitors into the world of Venetian perfumery through courses and workshops designed for both enthusiasts and the simply curious. These experiences bring the history of scent into the present in a way that feels vivid, hands-on, and personal. It is a wonderful extension of the themes explored in this episode, because it shows that Venice’s perfume heritage is not only something to read about or admire, but something people can still encounter directly in the heart of the city.

Show Key Notes

• Joan Giacomin’s role as Brand Ambassador for The Merchant of Venice
• Venice as a historic centre for perfume, trade, and rare ingredients
• The role of fragrance in Venetian beauty, ritual, and daily life
• Perfume as a symbol of identity, refinement, and atmosphere
• The scents and notes that evoke historic Venice
• How The Merchant of Venice brings Venetian perfume heritage into the present
• Why fragrance offers a unique way to understand the soul of Venice