Léonard De Vinci Et Les Parfums À La Renaissance

Exhibition at the Château du Clos Lucé, Amboise, 7 June - 15 September 2024

Famous for his contributions in the fields of art, science and engineering, Leonardo da Vinci showed a keen interest in smell and perfume. His writings attest to his fascination with the science of smell and the possibility of developing a science equivalent to that of sight or hearing. The artist mastered the techniques of maceration and distillation of essential oils, and devised his own scented recipes, from the most delicate to the most intense, to test the limits of the olfactory sense.

This exhibition catalogue reveals Leonardo da Vinci's little-known interest in perfume and invites you to take a journey through the Renaissance, from the incense and spices of Constantinople to the elegantly perfumed courts of Venice, Florence, Milan and Amboise under Francis I. Seventeen previously unpublished contributions by art historians, scientists and academics weave a dialogue between perfumes and the arts, celebrating the extraordinary capacity of the self-taught scholar to explore all fields of knowledge.