Enfilade

François Boucher, The Toilette of Venus, detail, 1751, oil on canvas
(New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

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From Eventbrite:

Jessica Murphy, Art and Aroma at the Met: 18th-Century France
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Saturday, 9 September 2023, 2.00–3.30pm

Engage your senses of sight and smell in a gallery tour that explores the history of French perfumery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sophisticated … seductive … classic. The phrase ‘French perfume’ often evokes these ideas. But how did France become known as the center of Western perfumery? This genre-blending gallery tour will illustrate France’s fragrant history in the 1700s through works of art and design in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, spotlighting some of the events and individuals behind perfume’s ascendance as one of France’s signature luxury goods. Experiencing these spaces and objects as a small group, we’ll sample and sniff aromatic materials while we simultaneously educate our eyes and noses. A ticket for this 90-minute gallery tour ($45) includes access to the rest of the Met after the event. Please arrive 30 minutes early to allow time for security checkpoints and weekend crowds.

Jessica Murphy is a museum professional with a passion for perfume. She holds a PhD in art history and has worked at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum. Meanwhile, she has also been writing about fragrance since 2007 at Now Smell This and her own blog Perfume Professor. Since 2015 she has taught and lectured about the history and culture of fragrance through venues including the Brooklyn Brainery, the Institute for Art and Olfaction, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the Timken Museum, and the Fashion Institute of Technology. You can follow her on Instagram @tinselcreation.