Greco - Romanic sculptors create artwork with more than just ocular ravisher in thinker , and endeavour to coddle all of the senses in their masterpieces . According to new inquiry , this also included thesense of smell , which was excite by smothering ancient statues in rosiness - sweet perfume and other delightful fragrances .
“ This idea of scented statues has been raised by scholars before in relation to cult statue , ” explained work authorDr Cecilie Brønsin an electronic mail to IFLScience . “ In my study I have tried to gather the various sources to this phenomenon , which look to have been more coarse than expected . ”
see various ancient texts , Brøns found that the practice of lend oneself perfumes to carving is key out with surprising regularity . The great Roman national leader Cicero , for lesson , wrote about how the house physician of Segesta in Sicily inunct a statue of the huntress goddess Artemis with “ wanted unguents , ” as well as “ frankincense and burning perfumes . ”
The Grecian poet Kallimachos , meanwhile , described a sculpture of the Egyptian queen Berenice II as “ stiff with perfume ” , while other text by the the likes of ofPliny the Elderand Vitruvius also allude to the mordacious practice . In her paper , Brøns explains that inscriptions found in various temple in Delos , Greece , “ specifically state that the essence used is myron rhodion : essence made from roses . ”
found on these ancient sources , two separate methods of applying essence toGreco - Roman Catholic statuescan be identified . The first , sleep with as ganosis , involved mixing waxes and fragrant oil in social club to enhance the aroma of these ancient artworks . Among the ingredients used for this practice were beeswax and Olea europaea crude oil .
A second technique , called kosmesis , made employment of protective oils to keep up the statue .
The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite , for example , recounts the kosmesis of Aphrodite in her sanctuary on the island of Paphos . According to Brøns , “ these descriptions are not metaphoric , but in fact relate to actual rite carry out for the statues of the theology . ”
In improver to smell out marvelous , Greco - papist statues were alsobrightly coloredand often draped in jewellery , fabrics , and wreath . Indeed , while these ancient pigments have now long since fade , Brøns writes that “ it is now recognized as an established fact that ancient artworks whether in wood , terracotta or endocarp , were paint . ”
“ In some cases they were also sweet-scented , which would have made the experience of them not only a optic one but also an olfactory one , ” she continues .
in the end , she says , these sculptures would have been valuate accord to their point ofmimesis , or “ imitation of life ” . However , Brøns explains that “ this does not mean that the artist needfully strive for realism or realism in the modern sense , but rather that they sought to extract human or divine life-time at its highest potential . ”
The use of perfumes , therefore , was designed to avail “ the watcher to envisage the scents the carving would have give off if it was real / living . ”
The study is publish in theOxford Journal of Archaeology .
