Scent and Symbolism: Perfumed Objects and Images

The experience of scent brings to the forefront one of humankind’s most powerful yet enigmatic senses.

Scent and Symbolism: Perfumed Objects and Images

will consider the role of scent in the history of art through a collection of 140 scent bottles from the seventeenth through twentieth century from the collection of the Umi-Mori Art Museum in Hiroshima, Japan. The exhibition will also reveal how the sense of smell has been described by painters over time: woven into allegory and literal experience, medicinal and spiritual use, as a tool of seduction, and a product for consumption.

The Smellery: an interactive room for kids and families is included in the exhibition. Experience hands-on activities related to scent in art and nature in this room reserved for learning and discovery.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website