Masque Fragranze - Act III?II - Romanza - Victorian Narcissus
The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.
Thus Oscar Wilde describes the studio of the painter Basil Hall in a few short lines in the first chapter of his masterpiece. And it is from this voluptuous, heady miasma of scent that "The Picture of Dorian Grey" arose.
The oil paint retained the imprint of the young and beautiful Dorian. The painting mirrored to perfection his youthful beauty. But the narcissism of the young man would - piece by piece - prove to be his undoing. The fragrance "Romanza" represents the complexity of the special bond between a model and his portraitist. Open admiration meets with the pure narcissism of a dandy. The arrogance of youthful beauty meeting with the wisdom and life experience that only comes with age.
What It Smells Like
The aristocratic charm of a Dandy is laid out in the rich herbal and floral top notes of absinthe, orange blossom, and angelica. The heart, when it unfolds, is a very complex mélange of earthy green floral notes such as violet leaf, narcissus, and chilly hyacinths, underscored by a touch of civet to bring a touch of warm animalism to the blend and to emphasize the fragrance's hedonistic aspects. The murky base of of woods, vetiver, amber, and civet alludes to the rapids of stolen time featured in the famous novel.
