Genoa, July 7, 2015 (askanews) – Accessing an ancient work of art through the sense of smell, turning a visit to a museum into a true sensory experience. This happens at Villa Carlotta at Lake Como, one of the most prestigious museums and botanical gardens in Italy. The protagonist of this original experiment is the painting “Madonna with Child and San Giovannino”, in the Villa’s collections and attributed to the sixteenth-century Scuola del Perugino.

In fact, the sensory joins the traditional exhibition path for the first time. A process that evolves in three stages to admire the famous table not only from a visual point of view, but also from an olfactory one. To breathe life into the three stages of the “sensory path” Caterina Roncati, perfume designer of Strega del Castello of Genoa.

The olfactory trail, which allows the visitor to better understand the work is made from ancient essences fashionable during the Renaissance, some that are no longer used today, but have been recovered thanks to an extensive research. In fact, the subject has a fascinating bibliography: from the “Notandissimi secreti de arte profumatoria”, a book on the art of scents, first published in Venice in 1555, to the Old Testament, through Pliny’s Naturalis Historia to De Plantis.

Three stages are clearly recognizable even to the less trained nose, culminating in a single perfume that pays homage to the Madonna and Child, creating a unique sensory journey thanks to an ampoule that holds it close to the frame. Three stages correspond to the head, heart and base notes of the essence. A journey of citrus, floral, incense and animalic musk very fashionable in the 1600s, like civet and beaver.
“Citrus – explains Caterina Roncati – represents birth, freshness and purity of the child, represented by the clear light of the painting. The flowers are a tribute to the Madonna, the archetypal mother who welcomes her child, aware that she will soon have to leave him behind . The clear colors and the pink of the dress influence this olfactory moment. Incense and musk – concluded the Genoese ‘nose’ – honor this gift, sweet, a little painful, but necessary, sealed by the presence of San Giovannino “.

The exhibition does not only focus on the sensory side, but mixes everything with technology. In fact, tablets are provided to the audience to complement the antique panel on display, allowing them to “virtually explore” the painting while most children can interact with the painting by performing a virtual restoration, wiping their finger over the reproduced image and cleaning the touched area.

The environment is also enriched by a 3D reproduction of the work, which allows even the visually impaired to appreciate its beauty.
“We are proud – said the director of Villa Carlotta, Serena Bertolucci – that we have managed to create a complex and heterogeneous exhibition circuit that is unparalleled and that shows off the rediscovered masterpiece to its best advantage through a combination of experiments, technology and 3D. An experiment – he concluded – that allows us to make the precious table accessible to the blind, an important goal for us “.