The Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella was established in Florence in 1221 by Dominican monks who cultivated medicinal herbs in their gardens and used them to prepare balms, ointments, and pomades for their convent's infirmary. Today, after 400 years of uninterrupted business, tradition is perpetuated and renewed by continuing use of the finest raw materials and by following the artisanal procedures established by the Dominican monks.