The Prado Has Re-created the Scents of a Lush Jan Brueghel Landscape for an Olfactory Exhibition
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Loading... - Anna Russell
- 21 Apr 2022
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From now visitors to the Prado Museum in Madrid have the chance to breathe in the aromas of the painting. For “The Essence of the Picture. Olfactory Exhibition”, Alejandro Vergara, Prado’s chief curator of Flemish painting, hired a team of olfactory experts to recreate 10 elements of the scene.
The researchers identified about 80 plants and flowers in the painting. Animal odors have also been identified, such as beagle and guinea pig. They also spotted several perfume-related items, including scented gloves and vessels for distilling essences.
Gregorio Sola, the Senior Perfumer at Puig and Academician of the Academy of Perfumes, has recreated 10 fragrances associated with this incredible diversity. Now visitors can try perfumes from four diffusers in Hall 83 of the Prado.
At the exhibition, the audience will see a bouquet of roses, jasmine, orange blossom, the fig tree, and kid gloves scented with amber, based on the real 1696 formula. And while the scent of a guinea pig has been wisely left to the imagination, Puig’s diffusers diffuse the harsh musk of a civet curled up in the lower right corner of a Brueghel painting.
Civet essence is commonly used in historical fragrances due to its longevity. However, “no animals were harmed here,” Sola explained in a video released by the museum. Instead, perfumers used synthetic bases or natural essences of the highest quality. Read More…
