Pantheon Roma. Where Love meets (Perfume) Art

 

 

WHEN: Spring 1520

WHERE: ROME, Secret Garden

Raphael, autoportrait

PARTICIPANTS: Raphael, enfant terrible of Rennaisance triade of artists (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael),  ages after still praised for his great ability to use perspective, light and shadow, his talent for catching beauty of human body and amazingly craftful draftsman, young yet famous, handsome and rich (ambitious too, not to mention).

Margherita Luti, La Fornarina, baker’s daughter and Raphael’s mistress. One of the many, as Raphael is a great appreciator of all things beautiful in life, and yet unique- she is the one to whom young, popular and acknowledged artist keeps coming back. Is she happy- not being able to marry the man she loves, with all the social and status rules, talent and public oppinion being the wall she is not able to climb. Or maybe she is just happy- to be chosen and blessed by the feeling all of the mortals fear and yet sweetly surrender to?

La Fornarina, Raphael

ACTION: Raphael and La Fornarina meet in their Secret Garden, where, hidden from anyone’s eyes and judgements they surrender to the power of love and passion. They’ve met here for hundreds of times before, yet this spring night is special- so intense, so unique, so full of lust. They only part in the morning. By next evening, divine Raphael is ill, shaken by feather, which intensifies with each hour and within two weeks makes the name of the painter immortal, as his soul leaves his sinful body to rest in Pantheon for ages to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHEN: December 12, 2014

WHERE: Fragrance Gallery, Tallinn

PARTICIPANTS: Paolo and Leone Fadelli, accompanied by 4 scents of Pantheon Roma (Il Giardino, Raffaello, Donna Margherita, Notte d’amore), and bunch of perfume lovers.

 

ACTION: presentation and testing of the 4 scents- Il Giardino, Donna Margherita, Raffaello, Notte d’amore, accompanied by the Renaissance love story. Perfumes are testing by laying the to the skin by the painters brush- just the way divine Raphael might have done it.

IL GIARDINO, the secret garden Raphael woud meet with his love, Donna Margherita, and spent the most intimate hours with her. Scent is indeed of a grean, vegetal closed space, reminiscent of small Italian garden, framed by high walls and yet sunlit and warm. Grean notes are the ones of the fresh grass, brightly green and inviting. The notes of green apple come right away, shortly followed by vague slightly powdery flowery tones. The scent is fresh and dreamy, even girly, yet joyful and charming. It retains its natural, bright charm without neither becoming darker, nor sweeter. Linear all the way, it manages to remain natural brightness and the feeling of sunny spring morning. Though not complicated, it does have good lasting power and certain girlish charm, and I expect it to be licked and easily understood by nearly everyone.

 

DONNA MARGHERITA is de facto tuberose soliflore. Tuberose here is purely floral, mixed with jasmine, with no animalistic, oily or green aspects. Just the way Donna Margherita might have been- young, healthy, shiny and attractive with her natural down to earth beauty and healthy instincts. It is neither high pitched as Piquet Fracas nor oily or animalistic as Frederik Malle Carnal Flower. The scent is linear and pretty flat, development is scarce, but then, again, it is a portrait of a young girl, simple and vital, not much sofisticated, but attractive with the feminine charms evolution or mother Earth equips women with to be irresistible in their weakness. Of the four scents, Donna Margherita is easily mot feminine and straight forward and it would be difficult to imagine a man wearing it.

RAFFAELLO, on the other hand, is very elegant and multilayered scent. With notes of absynth, leather and tonka beans it is somewhat original, unheard and interesting. It starts with cold green notes and a dash of pepper, and very soon the scent reveals its softer, warmer and sophisticated side, transfering into leather and mastic, while tonka beans give it certain caramelised feel. The leather here is reminiscent of the canvas splashed with colours, it does have artistic image and elegant carelessness about it. Elegant, stylish, but vivid and out of frames, combining the unexpected is a good scent to help picture the living celebrity of Renaissance art, Raphael.

 

NOTTE D’AMORE is the strangest of the four. The creators of the scent chose oud, vetiver and citrus notes to create the picture of the passion of the last night. Harsh and abrasive vetiver and citrus with dark, slightly smoky oud in the background give wild and even violent feel. It is surely dark nigh, but there is nothing sweet about it. Vetiver behaves like a strange beast, varying from high toned sandpaper like harshness to dark green, refreshing smokyness, with a feel of cold wet ground at spring. Neither terribly harmonious nor terribly coherent Notte d’Amore is an interesting scent, and I would wear it more and more, just trying to understand what it is. I like its somehow dark and gloomy, yet fresh, cool mood and do suspect it is something that would work well for warm and humid weather.

Of the four, Raffaello is most complex, elegant and interesting and it is easily my favourite. It would go pretty much for every occassion- like the pictures of Raphael, that would do honour for every wall. Notte d’Amore has some addictive characteristics and makes me wish to explore it more. My teenage son got charmed by Notte d’Amore (until he got confussed and blushing while seeing the name of the scent). Il Giardino and Donna Margherita are simple and easy, yet beatiful, harmonious and lucid, easily croud pleasers. Theid lasting power is excellent and, except for Donna Margherita, they are perfecly unisex. Pantheon Roma scents are available at Fragrance Gallery in Tallinn.