October 6, 2018 > March 31, 2019
Venice, Museum of Palazzo Mocenigo

Opening and press preview
Friday 5 October, 12.30
Admission upon invitation while places last

Along with other exhibitions on the theme realised alongside the new section dedicated to the history of perfume and essences – which was added to the new layout of the museum in 2013 – the Museo di Palazzo Mocenigo is presenting a large selection of scent bottles from the Magnani collection.

It is common knowledge that perfume and its containers were for centuries reserved for a few privileged people who, even through these tiny objects, sought to show off their wealth and their love of beauty or of the “marvellous”.

These extraordinary artefacts are the passion of Monica Magnani, an ‘omnivorous’ collector of antique scent bottles, who embarked on her quest following the purchase of a small silver object from a noble Venetian family. What was later discovered to be a German perfume box of the seventeenth century set the parameters that now characterise the over 850 scent bottles in her collection: antiquity, the unusual and small size, all less than 10 centimetres.

Developed over time with meticulous and passionate research, discoveries, choices and study, the collection ranges from the ‘unguentaria’ of the first centuries after Christ to early-twentieth-century pieces via some rare examples of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It also covers the great variety typical of production throughout the nineteenth century, and includes the chatelaines worn at dances or used for tiny French love tokens, or made with Murano and Bohemia glass or, also, as some of the many souvenirs of the Grand Tour.

The exhibition laid out in the Androne, the White Room and the piano nobile of Palazzo Mocenigo and curated by Chiara Squarcina and Monica Magnani, presents a selection of 225 scent bottles divided into 10 thematic areas – Chronology, Toys, Souvenirs, Techniques, Nature, Love tokens, Containers, Chatelaines, Tiny and Masterpieces – displayed on the basis of an original interpretation that reveals their intrinsic significance: not only as containers for scent but almost as a ‘manifestation’ of a mood or feeling.

The exhibition is further embellished with a showcase displaying rare vintage advertisements and another featuring antique books on perfume and cosmetics provided by the Biblioteca della Bellezza di Cosmetica Italia – Milan (formerly Unipro – Unione nazionale industrie di profumeria, cosmesi, saponi di toletta e affini).

Also on show is the original sketch by Gino Boccasile for Vidal’s Lauro Olivo advertisement, kindly loaned by Mavive for the occasion.

Here, then, is a fascinating journey, that started from Venice and in Venice finds its logical venue, to discover an extraordinary hand-made production that has flourished over the years with a unique imagination and technical ability.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.

Curated by Chiara Squarcina and Monica Magnani