Orris concrete

Catherine de Medici carried iris from Italy to the French court in the sixteenth century, instantly elevating it as a status symbol among European nobility. The ingredient did not arrive new, however. Its use reaches deep into antiquity. Ancient Egyptians burned iris rhizome in funeral rites, seeking its sacred fragrance. Greeks and Romans bottled it as perfume and prized it in medicine, using it to treat respiratory ailments and digestive complaints. Roman emperors kept iris-scented cosmetics. By the Renaissance, when Catherine de Medici presented her prized rhizomes in Paris, Europeans had centuries of reverence behind the gesture. Innkeepers across the continent had long used dried iris root to scent linens and repel moths. The ingredient carried associations with mourning, purification, and power that stretched back to pharaonic Egypt. Today, orris remains among the most historically layered materials in any perfumer's palette.