Love of fragrance binds many of us together but as human beings, it is romantic love that we seek. In 1916, an  Italian artist and an Italian princess exhanged love letters published in a book titled “Una Parentesi Luminosa” (A Luminous Parenthesis). The book consists of 19 letters written between Futurist artist Umberto Boccioni and Princess of Teano, Vittoria Colonna in June-August of 1916. The letters are an exchange of deeply personal expressions of philosophy and intimate emotions between two people. The letters reveal the bittersweet revelation that love has no bounds, even if society does.

 

Umberto Boccioni

This love affair is the inspiration behind the seventh fragrance from Eau D’Italie, Au Lac (By The Lake). Much of the love affair between Princess Colonna and Sig. Boccioni took place with Lake Maggiore as a back drop. Both correspondents were on the Isolino di San Giovanni and their letters spoke of the beauty of their surroundings.

 

Alberto Morillas was tasked with using these letters to create a fragrance and have it be the first feminine fragrance for Eau D’Italie (this is the first fragrance for the House that Bertrand Duchaufour did not formulate). The concept, according to the press release, was “to deliver a magnificent fragrance capable of blending the deep beauty of a truly feminine floral into the vibrant, dynamic frame of a Futurist painting.”

 

 Umberto Boccioni,State of Mind III Those Who Stay

The idea of framing the florals is exactly what Sig. Morillas does in Au Lac. I think Sig. Morillas was inspired by this passage from Sig. Boccioni “I see green and azure. They are the colors of my art. The green is my hope and the azure is my dream.” Sig. Morillas creates a green and watery frame to surround and enhance the central floral notes of Au Lac and symbolize the romance between Princess Colonna and Sig. Boccioni.

 

Umberto Boccioni, Elastica

Au Lac opens with a lovely mix of water lily which has the classic watery light floral character that note can bring to a fragrance. It is paired with a very green accord that the notes attribute to bitter orange leaves and fig leaves. This gives a watery green start which then leads into the floral heart. The three flowers at the core of Au Lac are rose, jasmine, and osmanthus. Sig. Morillas makes a wise choice as these three floral notes all bring something different and one could even more prosaically say they embody the passion of the secret love that inspired them. Less prosaically the rose is a nice spicy contrast to the osmanthus with a non-indolic jasmine adding a sweetness to the heart. The base finishes off the green framing with papyrus and cedar warmed by a little amber.

Au Lac has excellent longevity and above average sillage.

 

 Umberto Boccioni, Lasignora Massimo

Few fragrances are going to have this rich a backstory for a perfumer to work with. Sig. Morillas has done an admirable job in living up to his source material and creating a fragrance which can allow the love story of the Married Princess and the Futurist Artist to live on in fragrant form.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample purchased from The Perfumed Court.

– Mark Behnke, Managing Editor