If William Shakespeare believed that the eyes are the windows of the soul, then how did Leonardo da Vinci consider the nose? While the Italian polymathe has always been associated with artistic mastery and scientific ingenuity, less known is its deep fascination for perfumes.
The recently published exhibition catalog Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance perfumes Immerse in this largely unexplored facet of the artist's life by highlighting his personal commitments with perfume. Leonardo's education in Tuscany, where aromatic plants like jasmine and orange flower have prospered in the hilly landscape of the region, to its workspace, which was filled with botanical books and oils, resins, waxes and fats that have been incorporated into his art, his work in Leonardo. The book itself draws multisensory exposure of the same name organized by historians Carlo Vecce and the British Pascal, which took place last summer at the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise, in France, and to the artistic context of Leonardo through the history of Renaissance perfumes, similar to that of The 2018 virtual show Rexaminate the talent of South Asian art through the perfume, would be held.
Thanks to a combination of works of art, recipes for perfumes and texts by historians and three -dimensional reconstruction experts, the catalog builds a chronology which not only traces the development of Renaissance perfumes, but also their impact on Leonardo and its contemporaries. It starts with The assertion of Vecce according to which the mother of the polymathe, Caterina, was a enslaved woman which was treated from her house in the Caucasus region in Italy during the spice trade, introducing perfumes such as cinnamon, myrrh and musk.
The book continues to establish links between Leonardo’s childhood and his adult work, when he diluted recipes for perfumes and has developed technological sketches for alembic distillation mechanisms. Citing his notebook in the foreword, the novelist François Saint-Bris underlines how Leonardo's experiences allowed him to develop an in-depth understanding of the relationship between color and smell. “Note how life of life In itself collects all the colors and scents of flowers, “wrote the artist.” If you want to do azure, put corn in it; And wild shells for red.
More and more the continuity between the practice of Leonardo's perfume and artistic work, the British details how the artist's concern with the odors helped influence his technical and architectural conceptions, of household latrines And stables has Residential gardens for aristocratic customers. When Leonardo designed plans For what he perceived as the model city in 1485, he specifically sought to eliminate putrid odors resulting from overcrowding and bad ventilation.
Leonardo's obsession for smell may seem a little intense, but as trials, scent (and smells) have played an important role in Renaissance society, where hygienic practices were questionable and the disease was endemic. A tactic to repel the disease was the use of scented clothing and accessories such as gloves and sachets, frequently put on by the French and Milanese nobility. Consequently, the Paula Venturelli tests highlights “Lady with a Ermine” by Leonardo (c. 1489–1491), whose subject is shown bearing a black necklace illustrating the period which consists of paaster scented with fashion, wine and egg arrow. This recipe can also be used to make aromatic knife handles, and for those who have a nose for scent, there are even instructions on how to make “Cyprus” or scented paste sculptures, and scented gloves with mixtures of almond oil and muscular slowdown water. Again, since these recipes came before the advent of the dates of bathing and routine expiration, it may be better to stick to the store.
