Can you smell art? Louvre Abu Dhabi curators share the scent of four artworks

A European project to create a library of how cultural artefacts smell aims to create a more immersive experience between audience and art

Thurifer Angel in a Purple Tunic, circa 1520, by Bernhard Strigel. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

Art is first and foremost a visual medium, in that we see the portrait and sculpture and admire the artefacts and antiquities. In a broader artistic sense, we use our other senses to hear music and touch architecture, but rarely do we discuss how art smells.

This conundrum was clearly on the minds of the curatorial staff at the National Museum in Krakow when participating in the Odotheka project. The project aims to develop an international archive of smells of heritage objects, specifically imagining the scent of their 15th-century Leonardo da Vinci piece, titled Lady With an Ermine.

“We can feel the element of walnut wood, because the walnut board was used as the base of the painting, and the smell of oil paintings,” Tomasz Sawoszczuk, Odotheka’s lead researcher, told Euro News. “It’s a very nice, historical museum smell.”

The scent led to the creation of a pen that visitors to the museum could smell, with one or two sniffs suggested, as they viewed the painting. The pen allowed visitors to gain an insight, not only to the physical scent of the piece – the frame, paint and provenance of locations past – but also to the setting and time period which museum director Andrzej Szczerski deemed a “fruitiness” reminiscent of a “15th century palace in Milan”.

So, what does a work of art smell like? The National met three curators at Louvre Abu Dhabi to reveal why art is something to be sniffed at …

Thurifer Angel in a Yellow Tunic by Bernhard Strigel (circa 1520)

Thurifer Angel in a Yellow Tunic, circa 1520, by Bernhard Strigel. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

Artist: Bernhard Strigel, Swabia, Germany

Curator: Mariam AlDhaheri, curatorial assistant at Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Strigel paintings depicting angels holding incense burners once formed part of a church altar, along with a group of four panels representing sleeping guards or soldiers, in which the pair have been lost to time. These two paintings spent more than 200 years apart before being reunited at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

“Strigel had his studio in his family town Memmingen in Swabia, Germany,” says AlDhaheri. “There, he would have had organic pigments, perhaps using indigo, saffron and lapis lazuli in powder form for colour and a lot of eggs and oils. The studio must have smelt like a lot of organic material.”

In Thurifer Angel in a Purple Tunic, the thurible is closed, while in Thurifer Angel in a Yellow Tunic it is open, the coal amber is visible.

“The holiness evoked in these paintings kind of give you the atmosphere of a church or religious space,” says AlDhaheri. “You can see the movement and imagine the smell of frankincense. I also imagine the smell of nature because of the background in which you see the trees, ground and soil.”

The Adoration of the Magi by Pieter Coecke van Aelst (circa 1523)

The Adoration of the Magi, circa 1523, by Pieter Coecke van Aelst. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

Artist: Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flanders,

Curator: Mariam AlDhaheri, curatorial assistant at Louvre Abu Dhabi

Still in its original frame, the vibrant scene imagines the arrival of the Three Kings giving gifts to Jesus Christ in Mary’s arms. “The more Arabian side of the world is showcased here, where frankincense originated and showing the incense case,” says AlDhaheri. “This looks like the centre of a city space or ruins of a palace, with a lot of broken elements.

“You have the smell of the surrounding nature and also of the kings from their different origins who would each bring their own scents of luxury and richness.”

Still life with Chinese ceramics and an Oriental carpet by Willem Kalf (1658)

Still life with Chinese ceramics and an Oriental carpet, 1658, by Willem Kalf. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

Artist: Willem Kalf, Netherlands

Curator: Andrea Rozsavolgyi, senior curatorial assistant at Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Dutch East India Company established in 1601 and its Asian trade ports provide a backdrop to Kalf’s work in the Dutch Golden Age which depicts, among other items, a Persian carpet, ginger porcelain jar, pocket, watch, piece of bread, a cone of black pepper in a porcelain bowl, a melon and a rose centifolia.

“From the 17th century, florists bred a special hybrid rose called rosa centifolia, it’s a bit like a peony,” says Rozsavolgyi. “The Dutch were fascinated by flowers and the smell of the time would be flowery. I’m sure you would also have smelt the salty sea air though the open window as well as from the fish market and also the scent of spices.

“Amsterdam was a hub of tobacco production imported from the Americas, not to mention the tulip mania in the 1630s. The melon is very fresh, gives the feeling the artist just left it as it is.”

The Cup of Chocolate by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1877-1878)

The Cup of Chocolate, 1877-1878 by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paris

Curator: Himanshu Kadam, senior curatorial assistant, modern and contemporary wing, Louvre Abu Dhabi

Globalisation, the arrival of the contemporary age, sprawling cities and the enduring influence of London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 and Paris’s Exposition Universelle of 1855, provide the backdrop to Renoir’s masterpiece.

The painting signalled his return to the Salon following his immersion in impressionism, with the Paris exhibition having a significant impact on many facets of the development of artistic practices through usage of backdrops and props.

“This was in the artist’s studio so there would have been the scent of dry paints and of fresh canvases and oils,” says Kadam. “There are peculiar smells here, the wood of the table looks freshly polished, there’s the leather of the sofa and you can feel the scent of the carnations and roses.”

Debate over whether the cup held by the artist’s muse Margot (a seamstress born Marguerite Legrand), contains chocolate as the title suggests, or coffee, which Renoir was a fan of, casts a certain intrigue on the scent, although both are luxurious smells.

“Because it’s the industrial age, through the studio windows there would have been the smell of diverse production factories, but also the cool breeze and distinct smell of the market. There are references to Renoir’s studio being airy so he would feel the aura around the city.”