It’s Hump Day and World Cocktail Day and Stevie Wonder's birthday. What fragrance are you wearing?
For the carved wooden figure of Saint Margaret, the patron saint of childbirth, on the chair — I thought it was part of the bed but apparently it is a chair, and the carving is believed to have been added later — behind the woman who is believed to be Costanza Trenta, possibly painted after she had died in childbirth, I am wearing Diptyque Tam Dao.
Reminder: on 5/15 we're doing the Picture challenge, edition 11. The subject is the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck.* As usual, you are free to be as farfetched as you like in your fragrance choice...or go literal: her dress is green, they are both wearing animal fur, there are oranges on the chest and windowsill, and cherries on the tree outside the window, etc etc. Thank you to Calypso for the suggestion! (In the fall, we'll do a more modern piece by Sonia Delaunay, suggested by Kanuka.)
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2026, where I'll try (but usually fail) to have the next five or six weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top and bottom images are detail from the Arnolfini Portrait, good image of full painting here.
*Extra reading: The many questions surrounding Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait at JSTOR (this article has many useful close ups of the painting); The Arnolfini Portrait: Theories, Interpretations, and Analysis at The Collector; Hannah Gadsby: why I love the Arnolfini Portrait, one of art history’s greatest riddles at The Guardian.
Hello, friends!
Still sick, but I started feeling better this afternoon: my temperature dropped back to normal, and my nose is a little less blocked.
I’m still only up for fresh citrus and aromatic scents, so I’m wearing Mirto di Panarea, which smells very invigorating. As for the CP, let’s see… Both subjects are Italian, and the scent is named after myrtle, which symbolizes love, marriage and fertility, and can be part of a wedding bouquet. Some historians say the painting depicts a wedding.
Oh, and also – found a video where they recreate the lady’s green dress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u2RM1odsf4
What a wonderful video! Wow! Thank you for sharing that. It’s really amazing and makes you notice things you otherwise might not (me at least). It is also a very good way to see what the painting looks like as now displayed in the National Gallery, and you can see its size very well. (I’m glad they did not try to use real fur to remake her dress!)
Glad you liked it!
Agree about noticing new details – for example, I conpletely missed the sleeve decorations until I watched the video. The part about green potentially symbolizing wealth is also interesting – I thought it was a modern concept. Yes, it’s great they went with faux fur.
And thank you for suggesting this painting!
That Mirto scent is gorgeous-hope its herbal aspects help you heal. You smell marvellous, even though you probably cannot smell anything 🙂
So glad you are on the mend!
Feel better soon, dear Glannys! And thank you for the video, it’s fascinating.
Thank you for posting this, Glannys. I will add it to my ‘homework’ as I want to learn as much about this painting as I can. Thx also to Calypso who told us the size. With that level of detail, I, like others, was expecting a much bigger painting.
So glad you’re feeling better, maybe a course of vitamin C would help as well.
Glad you’re feeling better. And thank you for the video; there sure is a lot going on in this painting not readily seen or understood at first viewing.
Excellent video! Thank you for sharing and glad you are feeling better.
Pleased to hear that you are feeling a little better. Sending some healing vibes your way!
I’m wearing Cristiano Canali’s Romanza because he is Italian and as Glannys said, both subjects are Italian. The complexity of this aromatic fragrance also matches the complexity of the painting with notes of Artemisia, Angelica, Absinthe, Orange Blossom, Narcissus, Jasmine and Violet.
Excellent 🙂
Got indoles?
Yes it does, my friend. And that means, Mr. allo is out of town until Friday. Indol City!
🎉🤣🤣🤣
I’m in Muguet Porcelaine for this very very cold and windy day. At least there’s a bright hard sun.
We just fuelled a pleasure craft here and it’s so beautiful. Huge-completely dwarfed the fuel truck. I love meeting people from all over the world. This crew was American and they were so friendly. We haven’t seen them in five years but they’re coming back this way in a few months. Covid disrupted a lot.
Lovely!
Lovely, it’s as if I can smell the crisp air from here!
I’m back in Sarah Horowitz Perfect Vanilla to see if I can smell it today. Yesterday, I got one whiff and it was gone, baby, gone. And this was after I layered it over her vanilla body lotion. Also, I don’t have scent eating skin, so I’m wondering if I’m amnosic to it? But weirdly, when I picked up the top I wore yesterday, I could smell it fine…
Anyway, predicted air temp today is 88F and as we all know, surface temps are much warmer. So, if you’re hearing ominous rumblings traveling like thunder over the earth, it’s just me being very busy cursing every single degree over 70F! I will confound the gods with my language today. 🙃
I really enjoyed the Hannah Gadsby article, thank you! I’m not familiar with her but now feel I may be missing out on a few belly laughs by not finding more written by her.
“…but my language is too direct and I can’t quite take myself that seriously.” I feel a distinct kinship with her in this exact statement. 🙃 Also, the fact that “the experts” are often idiots due to their unparalleled confidence in their own knowledge. Yep, yep, and yep!
Yes! I loved the Hannah Gadsby article also and immediately thought that I need to find more by her.
Oops – apologies – “more by them.”
Another Sarah Horowitz fan, yay! I have her Perfect Vanilla, should pull it out soon. I enjoy her entire “Perfect” line.
Our noses can certainly play tricks on you. I’m glad you can smell it today on clothes.
Yeah, I’m too direct as well. Does not go over well with certain personalities.
You are roasting under the same weather that I am today. But rumor has it there’s a cool down for the weekend. Sure hope so!
634 pm and it’s 92 effing degrees. Single digit humidity levels. Hope we both get relief sooner rather than later…
Too @#$% hot too soon!
I’m back from my foodie trip to Istanbul. It was great! Very nice people and the food was so tasty. I brought back pistachio paste, baklava, and a head cold that manifested on the last day, so I’m sneezing and blowing my nose. I went to Nishane while I was there but didn’t buy anything, and no scent today because I’m congested.
Is there any particular dish you enjoyed while there that you’ll recreate in your own kitchen?
Yes! Tepsi Kebabi is like a flat meatloaf made of spiced ground beef and lamb. It’s topped with vegetables and potato wedges and a sauce made of tomato and Aleppo pepper paste. It bakes quickly because it’s thin, and if you leave off the potato it freezes beautifully. The cooking teacher, Ozlem Warren, gave us a copy of her new cookbook, “Istanbul,” and I am looking forward to trying more recipes. She has a killer lentil soup, too, and I’m not that fond of lentils.
Oh wow, that sounds delicious! I’m sorry about your cold–must have made your flight home miserable. I had the most delicious grilled lamb skewers there that had a crust made of pistachios. My friend and I went there twice to have them. Also I was surprised (but why–I shouldn’t have been) by how many delicious fish dishes there were there. I’ll have to try to find that cookbook. Hope you feel better very soon.
I am feeling better today, thanks. I went to a kebab restaurant and it was amazing, I had the best lamb chops.
I love lentils in every form and cook them often. Homemade and intensely seasoned dal is a household staple around here.
I love Turkish cuisine. It’s one of the 5 great cuisines of the world, supposedly, along with Chinese, Italian, French, & I forget the last one. We had a little no frills restaurant named Mykonos when I lived in Silverlake that we’d eat at once a week or more, and we’d just come back from Greece one time when we asked the owners where in Greece they were from. They looked around furtively then whispered, “We are Turks.” I guess they figured most Americans know Greek cuisine but not Turkish.
I ate my way around Greece when we lived there.
This thread is making me drool.
SOTD is Wega by Astrea perfumes… early this morning I went to an Italian expo where they were showcasing lots of perfumes — this one had notes of sakura blossom, raspberry, rose, marshmallow, vanilla, tonka bean, and vetiver.
Sorry about the Montreal hockey team, though they still have a chance. My kids could not believe they lost at home! Beautiful day today — about to water my plants and run errands!
Hopefully they’ll be fired up to win the next games!
It was sad morning when I tell the kids when they woke up that they lost
Sakura marshmallows sound like a delicious snack.
Today I’m wearing miss dior essence. I really like it, it smells like the mall, all the perfumes mixed together and cardboard boxes and tape and leather, ah!
Never tried it but your description makes it sound a lot of fun.
Intriguing!
I wanted simple today so I am wearing Goutal Eau d’Hadrien. And Hadrien, of course, was a Roman emperor (in fact, he is the third of the “five good emperors) so there’s my Italian connection to the painting.
Important (to me) question for all of you: when you travel long distances where you’d like to get a little sleep on the flight, do you wear headphones and do they help? I have never been able to sleep much on a plane, but would love to improve that!
No headphones, sometimes soft earplugs. But I’m a tray table sleeper so one ear is usually covered by my pillow and that cuts down on the noise.
Yes, I listen to an audio book on a very low, barely discernible volume. And more importantly to me, I wear a very comfortable eye mask that completely blocks any light.
Eau de Hadrien is a classic! Simple & perfect. You smell wonderful.
I wear Apple air buds in noice cancellation mode
Noise canceling AirPods or headphones really cut back on noise and may help you sleep. They make the awake time more enjoyable too. 🙂
When I was flying, I was usually taking the red eye flight to my destination. So I also did the tray table nap. For whatever reason, that seemed to minimize any jet lag I would have.
No headphones or earplugs for me.
Thanks, everyone. Any and all tips are appreciated!
You smell great!
I don’t wear special headphones on the plane (e.g., noise cancelling), I choose a favorite old comfort movie to listen to and I’m able to drift off, at least until my head falls to my chest and I startle myself awake!
Oops that was supposed to be a reply to springpansy up there…
Thank you!
I’m not really complying with the CP, sorry to say, because I had to try another Ormaie sample that I just got in the mail, Toi Toi Toi, which has wood, incense, patchouli, and more. This is the one our friend Coumarin says is his favorite, so I wanted to sample it. I don’t think they had patchouli in Europe yet in the 15th century, but I’m sure that the Arnolfini home had some beautiful wooden items, kept nicely polished, along with incense, and that little candle might have been nice-smelling. I’m still wanting to wear something to go with the darling little dog but not sure what.
On another note, I’ve read that in the 15th century, mirrors were quite rare, especially ones with much size–and could even cost as much as a naval ship! So not only do the fruits and furs and cloaks, the rug and rich tapestries, represent wealth, but the mirror itself! (I learned this from studying Durer’s grand 1500 self-portrait, when an art historian pointed out these would have been difficult to execute because painters didn’t typically have access to large mirrors).
Calypso, answering your question from yesterday, I like The Other Bennet Sister.
It’s not a movie with high production value but very enjoyable escape right now.
That’s very interesting about the mirrors.
Your SOTD sounds like something that’s right in my wheelhouse.
It’s very nice. The dry down is mostly vanilla. Might try the extrait too.
Jumping onto the Italian bandwagon for both the subjects and the incredibly ornate luxury of all things depicted, which somehow strike me as Italianate, from early Renaissance, I went this morning with my beloved Laura Biagiotti Venezia with the pointed little hat. Florals, spices, macerated fruits, sandalwood, resins. So gorgeous and overloaded in that 1990s way yet also perfectly balanced and somehow very Italian in its opulence and perfectly named as Venice was a seagoing empire with ships from the world over visiting it and bringing exotic spices, woods, foods, etc. It has a Lutens-esque quality as well that i enjoy.
I think that’s a perfect match!
Phi de Kandahar today.
It’s Swiss. Very neutral given the times.
My bottle is getting empty and I think I will replace this one along with CdG Avignon.
Ah, you smelled great today apsara.
Thank you the inspiration of Italian perfumes to go with the painting – I’m wearing Arte Profumi Samharam.
🙂
Such a beautiful fragrance. Thank you for the inspiration!🇮🇹
I’m in Azemour today, for the oranges in the painting.
I might steal that from you tomorrow!
We’re back to cool weather today with 🌞 skies. My lilacs continue in full bloom thanks to the cool weather (only 52 F. at this time) so I also continue in full lilac mode. SOTD is my favorite lilac, the long d/c YR Pur Desir de Lilas, a softly spicy soliliflore. ❤️. Glad I have an untouched BUB.
Looking forward to this month’s classic film at our historic theater tonight, the musical ‘1776.’ Interesting that most of the actors in the film were the original actors in the Broadway play. This showing is in honor of our 250th birthday, and there will be a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence prior to the start of the film.
🇺🇸🎶🎥
Have fun! I’m hoping my city does some cool stuff this year for the 4th.
2 clementines and a hot tea with lemon as it really was on the chilly side today with highs of 12C, on the plus side a significant amount of rain. This morning Molton Brown Intoxicating davana blossom, a lovely floral with distinct broom from their original line-up when their perfumes were EDT (and genuinely affordable) and tonight L de Lolita Lempicka which has surprised me as I wasn’t enthralled all those years ago but is smelling delicious and golden all of a sudden and makes me glad to have kept my bottle which was always pretty at any rate and the reason I kept it in the first place.
I was enthralled with LL when it came out, and went through a bottle. I have a small bottle now for about 10 years. I have to be in the right mood to wear it. I always wanted to try the flankers, especially the Midnight one.
The original Lolita Lempicka was not for me. It went screechy violent hairspray. No bueno! But the bottles were so gorgeous.
8C and raining today. And they are announcing 29C for next week! I’m in Eau de Tulle.
How do you like that one please? I don’t have Le Bouquet de la Mariee or Le Plus Beau Jour so I am thinking Tulle might be a good investment…investment being used in the loosest sense of the word. ehehe 😉
It’s very nice. Although it is an edp, it’s on the lighter side, but it’s a very nice choice to get a taste of BdM or Plus Beau Jour.
Grand Soir! 🚂 I hear the train a-comin’, it’s rollin’ ’round the bend… ❤️❤️❤️
Johnny Cash earworm!!
Thanks! I couldn’t figure it out, and didn’t want to look it up.
It’s 45 degrees here, and so gloomy that if feels like Fall.
It’s fine though. It made for a quiet day. I’m wearing Angel’s Share to match the weather.
I’m getting a little obsessed with shopping the clearance section at my grocery store. Today I scored double chocolate chip cookies at the bakery for 75% off and ELF cosmetics for 90% off ( the makeup for my daughter, the cookies are for me😃)
How is it that your temperature is half of what mine is?!?
I know it’s crazy!
It’s cold and rainy here too, but next week it’s supposed to shoot up into the 80’s.
I’m going to get about 3 days worth of 80’s, but unfortunately it’s coming with rain.
Posting late. Been groggy all day today. It got up to 89 degrees here today, which is one degree off from the record. Those clouds in the sky did nothing to dampen the heating.
SOTD = commando, but wearing TBS British Rose body yogurt in the usual spots. Getting close to thunking my Vacation SPF30 mousse sunscreen. I typically up my SPF to 50 in the summer.
That temperature would make me groggy too. I don’t recall though, do you get the humidity with it?
Nope. It’s terrifyingly dry here at the moment. Colorado is a semi-arid state, so it’s not quite desert. But it sure can feel like one sometimes.
I was in Chanel Paris-Venise today. I used the trifecta of shower gel, lotion and eaux. There should be a lotion thunk soon; maybe 1 or 2 more wears. The shower gel and eaux will be a bit more challenging to thunk.
The promised rain arrived and it lasted all day! We desperately needed it; I’m very thankful.
That must be lovely to use all 3.
Pouring here too!
Send some rain here please!