Saturday 12 July
10 - 11.15am

Deepen your connection with Scented Visions in this meditative exploration of art and aroma, led by Dr Christina Bradstreet, curator of the exhibition and author of Scented Visions: Smell in Art, 1850-1914.

The session will begin with a guided slow-looking, which invites participants to focus intently on a single painting. Complimented by a carefully created scent that brings new dimensions to the artwork, the experience will unfold into a shared discussion, allowing visitors to explore fresh perspectives guided by Christina’s historical and olfactory insights.

Dr. Christina Bradstreet

Dr. Christina Bradstreet is an art historian specialising in Victorian art. She is Head of Programmes at the Association for Art History. Her book Scented Visions: Smell in Art, 1850-1914 was published by Penn State University Press in September 2022.

“Pre-Raphaelite and Victorian Aesthetic paintings are so often described as ‘multisensory’, but smell and its significance has been overlooked, despite being ‘under our noses’ all along. Many 19th - and early 20th-century ideas about smell and smelling, such as the belief that smell is disease or that rainbows emanate the sweet scent of fresh, wet meadows after a rainstorm, seem outlandish today. Yet this contextual information lends a new and vital perspective for understanding some of the most iconic Victorian paintings.”