Scented Visions
Smell in Art, 1850-1914
Christina Bradstreet
“The first study of its kind, Christina Bradstreet’s Scented Visions documents in stunning detail the important role of scent in nineteenth-century art. Tracing a myriad of scent motifs that emerge across a wide array of art styles and movements, Bradstreet’s book makes a powerful contribution to our understanding of the cultural contexts of smell and history, particularly in this visual discipline in which we assume it must be marginalized. Upending assumptions about what constitutes the visual, Bradstreet offers a powerful model for what it means to ‘see’ smell in our archives of the past.”
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- Description
- Reviews
- Bio
- Table of Contents
- Sample Chapters
- Subjects


Beautifully illustrated and grounded in current practices in sensory history, Scented Visions presents both fresh readings of major works of art and a deeper understanding of the cultural history of nineteenth-century scent.
“The first study of its kind, Christina Bradstreet’s Scented Visions documents in stunning detail the important role of scent in nineteenth-century art. Tracing a myriad of scent motifs that emerge across a wide array of art styles and movements, Bradstreet’s book makes a powerful contribution to our understanding of the cultural contexts of smell and history, particularly in this visual discipline in which we assume it must be marginalized. Upending assumptions about what constitutes the visual, Bradstreet offers a powerful model for what it means to ‘see’ smell in our archives of the past.”
Christina Bradstreet is Courses and Events Programmer at the National Gallery, London.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: Seeing Smell
1. The Fallen Angel
2. Art and Stench
3. Picturing Perfume
4. Smelling Pictures
Part II: Decoding Smell
5. Scent, Memory, Visions
6. Scent and Soul
7. The Erotics of Scent
8. Death by Perfume
Conclusion
Notes
Index
Download a PDF sample chapter here: Introduction
Also of Interest
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