Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella presents Resonance

Resonance is the name of the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella project, conceived as a listening room inside the Sacristy of its historic premises in Via della Scala 16, Florence.

The installation was born as a dialogue between two places that are distant in time and space, yet profoundly similar in their function: the Rothko Chapel in Houston and the Sacristy of the Workshop. Two environments designed to gather attention, suspend time and create a dimension of contemplation.

Inaugurated in 1971, the Rothko Chapel was conceived as a non-denominational space designed to house fourteen paintings by Mark Rothko. Here, painting does not represent an idea, but becomes its very presence: colour does not decorate the space, it defines it. This visual experience is joined in the same year by Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel, a work that unfolds over time with measured continuity, renouncing narrative and resolution in order to transform listening into a state of attention.

It is precisely this dimension that Resonance introduces to Florence. Inside the Sacristy - a place of study and preparation since 1221 - Feldman's composition transforms the space into a listening room, where architecture and sound dialogue in balance. The installation runs parallel to the exhibition dedicated to Mark Rothko at Palazzo Strozzi, extending its reflection from painting to the dimension of sound.

Founded in 1221 by Dominican friars, Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is today the oldest continuously operating pharmacy in its historic location. Always guided by botanical discipline and Florentine craftsmanship, the Officina preserves and passes on knowledge that spans the centuries, today expressed in fragrances, treatments and creations for the body and environment.