Voir l’odeur. La représentation parfumée de l’Assomption de la Vierge

A topic little studied, in the present state of the research, is the representation of the sensory dimension, in particular that of smell; in other words, what are the representational strategies used in painting to actually show smell? If scent, in its oppositional polarity of perfume vs. stink, is not meaningful in its visual dimension, painting instead appears to express a need to account for smell. A «visual» need for scent emerges not only in the representation of the five senses – through the diffusion of some iconographic motifs, such as flowers, a vase full of perfumes, the bloodhound, etc. – but also, and primarily, within the pictorial narrative. Thanks to the privileged choice of an iconographic theme, i.e. the Assumption of the Virgin – steeped in implications at the level of olfactory experience – the olfactory issue will be reconstructed, from its presence within the textual sources. In particular, the study of Nicolas Poussin’s painting, Assumption of the Virgin, will be a exemplary case, to show the methods for the portrayal of perfume.