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What is a pharmacy? And what are “medicines?”

I’ve been thinking about this question for some time, and had the opportunity to consider this in real-time in a sort of back-to-the-past-to-the-future moment when I spent time at the glorious Farmaceutica of Santa Maria Novella (SMN) in Florence, Italy (in longhand, the “Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella)” on 8th November.

This meet-up at this 800+ year old institution is one of many touchpoints in my work and personal life between late October and late November, where I’m working on health/care issues in 4 Euro cities: starting with London in week 1, then moving on to Brussels (my some-time European home town), now in Florence, and winding up in Amsterdam later this week.

Here is a photo of the interior of the place, which looks like a church because, well, it was first established in 1221 by SMN Dominican friars ho began cultivating a garden. From that garden over hundreds of years a pharmacopeia and natural preparations evolved into a portfolio of botanically-based remedies, perfumes, liqueurs, balms and foods which the likes of the Medici family and others in the City of Lilies consumed to deal with health and well-being.

In 2025, this is a thriving business, led by a recently-appointed new executive from the fashion industry, 800+ years later operating in both brick-and-mortar shops around the world as well as an ecommerce business selling remedies as well as a line of fragrance and other personal care offerings.

This visit, I met up-close-and-personal with Marica, whose photo is shown here with me in the homeopathic/medicines “chapel” room of the pharmacy’s huge multi-department space. Other rooms feature color cosmetics and beauty products, and fragrance — which is what most consumers worldwide think about when if they have some exposure to the Farmaceutica SMN through social, fashion, or beauty media.

Marica and I discussed the broad range of homeopathic remedies and products available in the pharmacy — from gut and throat treatments to skin (think psoriasis), liver, and immunity supplements, among other medicinal categories.

I was keen to know more about the company’s approach to sleep supplements, represented by the Quiesco capsule which includes passionflower, lemon balm, Californian poppy, valerian, hawthorn, and other herbal/natural inputs.

There was already a 30+ person line of customers outside of the shop within an hour of opening, and this is November — not prime tourist timing — but a testimony to the huge self-care phenomenon that is global, with health consumers seeking high quality ingredients and trusted brands to help them manage health — mind, body, and spirit.

As I move into the topic of “spirit” and art in health, I’ll point you to this promotional poster for the Farmaceutica which incorporates the many layers of the business — from the flowers in the vase at the top of the graphic and the base of it, to the scent emerging from the brass container at lower left, the bust of Hippocrates attesting to medicine innovation and the caduceus symbol thereon, along with a bottle of an elixir — which is still a product category channeled by the pharmacy in many flavor and various purposes.

Marica told me that it’s fragrances which still draw consumers into the shop and ecommerce platforms first, people are coming back to the past provenance of supplements and self-care for health, well-being, and medical management. I’ve written extensively about this phenomenon in the U.S. and Europe, and noted that during the deepest COVID-pandemic era for work-from-home and digital transformations of homes, more people took up serious skin care regimes that translated into better complexions on Zoom and in virtual meetings. This trend has persisted and we have witnessed beauty-focused companies morphing toward health-and-wellness, and medical/pharma industry players blending toward health and well-being.

In addition to time with Marica, I had the pleasure of learning from Georgia and Georgio, pictured here with me in a mall chapel room located at the front of the shop’s space. The little chapel features the 600 year old frescoes of Mariotta di Nardo, and into January 2026, a version of The Annunciation by contemporary British artist David Hockney. This capsule exhibit/installation is part of a wider celebration of the art of Fra Angelico now featured in Florence at the Palazzo Strozzi and the San Marco Convent/Museum where “Beato Angelico’s” original Annunciation fresco is on a great welcoming wall to inspire all visitors who enter. (There’s a wonderful op-ed by Cody Delistraty on this piece in the New York Times, linked here).

G’a, G’o, and I brainstormed the intimate, strong relationship between art, spirit, and well-being, with the support of the Farmaceutica backing the Hockney work featured here in “a pharmacy.”

This speaks to my latest thinking and “doing” on the “Human OS,” the Human Operating System, that goes well beyond prescription drugs, wearable technology for tracking metrics, and visits to doctors. Self-care is now evolving to the new Home Care, and the Home as our personal hubs for wellness, health, and medical care.

Include art, music, and other creative pursuits in this new mix of care for good and healthy living. 

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  As I pondered what we can learn from the origins of the Farmaceutica before a visit in 2024, I was also preparing to lead a class module through my affiliation with Duke Corporate Education with a global company, listed on the Fortune 100, looking at the future of health care.

I developed a plotline for my class cohort which started with a story about the Farmaceutica SMN, followed by this slide asking, “What is a pharmacy?” I’ve included here for your consideration.

In putting this timeline together, I went even further back before the founding of the SMN pharmacy to Babylonia — arguably the first apothecary I could identify in my research into the origins of pharmacies as we’ve come to know and appreciate them.

In going back to Babylon and the botanicals used by the clinicians of the time — doctors and chemists and other knowledgeable folks back in 1550 BC — I also learned that this group of health care providers mixed into their wellbeing alchemy the power of prayer and faith.

The “Human OS.”

And that experience was definitely part of the alchemy baked into the experience of a health citizen living in Mesopotamia in 1550 BC or the Florentine patient of Renaissance times to Our Times, right now.

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