Renaissance scent: Candle by Maison Balzac recreates the essence of 1642

The candle, a collaboration between candlemaker Elise Pioch and florist and artist Lisa Cooper, was inspired by the 17th-century still life painting Vanitas – Still Life with Bouquet and Skull by Adriaen van Utrecht. The duo set out to distill the emotion of the painting into a scent by blending together notes of violet, blackberry, cedar, patchouli and peony.

‘We both wanted to create a scent that really pulled you into the painting,’ Cooper told Broadsheet. ‘I chose that painting because of all it represents about my perception of flowers and my approach to flowers and how they remind us that we live and we die.’

Scholarly Scents are providing the antithesis to mass-market fragrances as designers increasingly look to the past to create products around historical reference points. Read our Elixir Innovate feature for more on how sensory design is transporting us back in time.