Quick answers
History
The name is a date as much as a work. In 1144, Abbot Suger completed the choir of the basilica of Saint-Denis, at the gates of Paris: art historians see it as the birth certificate of Gothic architecture, the moment when stone opens to light and soars upward. Filippo Sorcinelli, an organist, knows these buildings intimately; Opus 1144 is his attempt to fix their smell.
What you find here is not the incense of the liturgy but the smell of the building itself: the stone, the wood of the stalls, the leather of bindings and seats, the amber patina that time lays on the surfaces. Where LAVS spoke of the atelier's cloth, Opus 1144 speaks of the edifice, of its height and of a mineral coolness shot through with warm materials.
The construction is markedly more leathery than that of LAVS. The subject lines up a leather held by white musk, vanilla, sandalwood and ambergris; the counter-subject softens it with benzoin, cashmere wood, orchid and iris; the tail, made of citrus and elemi, brings the light that keeps the leather from weighing down. It is a vertical Gothic, dark at the base and bright at the summit.
Opus 1144 belongs to the UNUM collection and is offered as an extrait de parfum, unisex. Enthusiast databases readily file it among the woody, leathery orientals; the house, true to its manner, prefers to speak of a smell of the Gothic. We follow the house's published list of materials here.
Olfactory pyramid
Like the house's other compositions, Opus 1144 is stated as a score: a subject, a counter-subject and a tail, exactly as Filippo Sorcinelli publishes them.
The axis is Gothic verticality: a grave, ambered leather at the base, a clarity of citrus and elemi at the summit, like the light coming down through a stained-glass window.
Olfactory profile
Opus 1144 opens on a broad, leathery material. White musk gives it its clean grain, vanilla and sandalwood its roundness, ambergris that salty, weathered quality that evokes ancient stone. The leather is not brutal: it is dressed, polished, like the waxed wood of a choir.
The counter-subject deepens without weighing down. Benzoin adds a balmy sweetness, cashmere wood a velvet, orchid a dark floral note and iris that rooty powder that lends distance and staying power. This is the heart of the building, between shadow and warmth.
The tail is the light. Lemon, mandarin, jasmine and elemi open the summit of the composition with a bright, resinous stroke and stop the whole from closing in. Longevity is that of an extrait, long; the sillage is enveloping, more dressed than that of LAVS.
Key characteristics
When and where to wear
Opus 1144 is a cool-season, evening leather, more dressed than everyday. Its ambered, leathery base blooms in autumn and winter; its citrus tail nonetheless lets it breathe in the shoulder seasons. It is a fragrance of presence, best kept for moments when you want depth.
Usage markers
Seasonal fit
| Season | Fit | Critical notes |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | ★★★☆ | The citrus tail airs it out. |
| Summer | ★★☆☆ | Dense leather; dose it. |
| Autumn | ★★★★ | Its ideal season, the leather takes over. |
| Winter | ★★★★ | Ambergris and leather peak. |
Context fit
| Setting | Fit | Usage recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Evening | ★★★★ | Its dressed-up ground. |
| Concert | ★★★★ | An imagination of organ and nave. |
| Ceremony | ★★★★ | Grave and solemn. |
| Everyday | ★★★☆ | For those who like assertive leather. |
| Shared office | ★★☆☆ | Assertive sillage, best moderated. |
Similar perfumes
Solemn ambered leather has its neighbors; a few share its gravity or its leather accord.
| Perfume | House · year | Why it is close |
|---|---|---|
| LAVS | Filippo Sorcinelli · 2014 | The house's founder, a warm resinous incense; Opus 1144 is its leathery, gothic counterpart. |
| Ambrosivs | Filippo Sorcinelli · 2023 | The Milan exclusive, a woody aromatic incense; the same edifice verticality, smokier. |
| Cuir Ottoman | Parfum d'Empire · 2007 | An ambered, warm, dressed leather; a kinship of leathery base and staying power. |
Common questions
See also
Sources
- Official Filippo Sorcinelli document, Opus 1144 sheet (Italian and English editions)
- Filippo Sorcinelli Fragrances 2026 press kit (UNUM collection, “smell of the Gothic”)
- Filippo Sorcinelli, official Opus 1144 page
- Fragrantica, Opus 1144 entry (2015)
- Parfumo, Opus 1144 entry