Students will explore the development of France’s perfume industry from its birth in the early Renaissance to the end of Second Empire
In this interactive course, students will explore the development of France’s perfume industry from its birth in the early Renaissance to the end of the 19th Century. Through a combination of assigned works and scents. students will uncover Versailles’ literal dirty secrets, understand how Medieval fears about “bad air” and contaminated water led to the French Court’s extravagant use of perfume, and learn how French perfume rebounded with exuberance after the Terror, creating the foundation of the fragrance industry we recognize today.
