Essenzialmente Laura: Laura Bosetti Tonatto's Olfactory Masterpieces
The fragrances of Popes, Kings and Fools. How an Italian perfumer crafted bespoke scents for Queen Elizabeth and the Vatican.
Laura Tonatto is one of the few female Maître Parfumeurs at an international level. Defined as "The Nose" by experts in this sector, Laura is a true genius in the olfactory field.
I met Laura during a trip to the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg. I was amazed by the installation she had created for Caravaggio's Lute Player, kept by the museum. By selecting the flowers that appeared in the painting, with her own historical elaboration, she created a perfume. Subsequently, with the help of museum technicians, she created an aerator that sprayed perfume when visitors approached the painting in order to give them the sensation of being "inside" the scene. An incredible experience, never felt before in admiring a painting.
Laura Bosetti Tonatto created a tailor-made collection for Queen Elizabeth II of England.
As we know, royal etiquette is very strict about the fragrances family members can and cannot wear. For example, during official events they cannot be worn so as not to annoy the interlocutors, while there is a specific one to be worn at the time of the coronation, as told by Vittorio Sabadin in the biography Elizabeth, the last queen.
The one with the olfactory notes is a very strong and centuries-old bond, built and structured according to precise dictates, to which the Italian perfumer and nose Laura Bosetti Tonatto also had to submit, contacted in 2007 by the royal entourage precisely to create the exclusive fragrance and above all secret to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
I met Laura during a trip to the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, we both had an assignment from the director Pietrowski. I was amazed by the installation she had created for Caravaggio's Lute Player, kept by the museum.
When Laura presented the project to the Vatican she couldn't believe that they would allow her to make perfumes for them. First she created a collection, The Perfumes of the Bible, which narrated the stories of the best-selling book in the world on an olfactory level.
Later she was allowed to make perfumes based on the flowers present in the Vatican Gardens. The result was above expectations.
The Vatican is one of the most exclusive and inaccessible places on the planet. Secrets and treasures of humanity have been preserved here for over two thousand years.
Try for yourself the perfume "Incense of the Churches of Rome" to experience the magic of Laura.
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“It was the most extraordinary day of my life”
said Bosetti, (and how can I blame her), when I met the Queen and talked to her about perfumes