Gloria Venetiarum - Adorned Facets of Venice - Venezia 1920 -Blanc de Blanc, Lido and Oud Royale 2019
2. Juliette Scott, 3. Unsplash, 4. Inge Morath 1955.
‘Fluminaque antiquos subterlabentia muros’ Virgil
(and the ancient rivers wash around the walls….
‘To certain among us, undeniably, places, localities become objects of intense desire and most intimate feeling. Quite irrespective of their inhabitatants, and virtually of their written history, they can touch us like living creatures and one can have with them friendship of the most deep and satisfying sort. Genius Loci, A divinity, certainly and deserving of some silent worship.’
from Genius Loci- Vernon Lee 1898
Venice is most certainly one of the places that possesses a ‘Genius Loci’ of some immense power, for the hold it has placed over men and women for countless centuries, endures and is never diminished. Personally I have been entranced most of my life, Venice has cast her spell far and wide, she resides in the dreams of many, a longing that defies rationality. Even if we have never stepped foot upon her, we have lived and breathed her in a million photographs, a thousand fold sheets of music, pages of poetry and literature evoking her in each written piece. known her in tales spun through generations and felt her trembling summons. Yet for a city whose every crevice has been explored she retains as she must, secrets that are cached, one must discern them with the senses beyond the senses.
Look beyond into the minutiae, details within detail, there she is truly seen under the multiple veils that have been dispensed to the world.
Am I seen yet? Slowly the few emboldened see, perhaps not quite naked and fully revealed, the glimpses discrete. Yet I am beheld…. DsF 2018
Venezia - Inge Morath 1955
Venezia 1920, is an Italian perfume house founded by Gianluca Zin and Michele Cardillo, it was my pleasure to meet with Gianluca thanks to Roberto Dario at Esxence 2022 in a discreet and intimate group where we were presented with the collection of Venezia 1920, four of which were composed by Luca Gritti and a fifth, Blanc de Blanc by Michele Marin. A preview was also given of new creations being undertaken by Roberto Dario for the brand, that brief glimpse was impressive and we await their addition to the collection in the future.
As the name 1920 suggests it is a nod to that period in Venice’s rich history but also a means to express a city that defies expression and holds so many nuances in cultured embrace that perfumes seemed a perfect medium in which to explore perhaps unseen traits of her personality. As written on their website;
’Venice contains so many worlds that words are not enough to contain it all.’ The 1920’s tore through the Western World in a flurry of extravagance, boundaries erased and freedoms exercised. Venice, true to her history was a place for the wealthy, aristocratic and famous to see and be seen. Here was the starting point for Gianluca and Venezia 1920.
Venezia 1920 website, 2.3.4.5. Venice - Danu Seith-Fyr 2019, 6. Gianluca Zin- Instagram.
How to capture that ‘Genius Loci’, that spirit that dwells in a place exercising such potentcy over us…… Venezia 1920 has achieved that.
Blanc de Blanc - Perfumer Michele Marin , A cloistered garden in dappled light, a reflection of light and shade that ebbs and flows like the caressing of the canal against the garden wall. A trellised boudoir of sophorific white florals and decadent ripe fruits, that lull you willingly into a haze of deeply seated pleasures. It lures one into the luxury of privacy, your own eden sequestered beyond ancient stone walls, muted and hued with the voices and touch of the many who passed hours within their enclosure. Full of the effervescent joy Blanc de Blanc rises up from the warmth of summer heated stones, encompassing an exclusive sunflushed arbour, festooned in the delights of nature and allowing the intimacy of one’s inner circle. Blanc de Blanc is a confidante of fragrant foilage, verdant adornment and classical statuary, cached luxury, the luxury away from the bustle of the city. It is warming and richly encompassing yet holds secrets within for selected ears only.
Head: bergamot, marine accent, peach, apricot, pineapple
Heart: lamino, rose, magnolia, frangipani
Background: sandalwood, coconut, vanilla, rosewood
Architectural detail Venice- Danu Seith-Fyr, 2. Blanc de Blanc- Venezia 1920, Venetian gardens - Pinterest,
4 Venice- Inge Morath
Lido - Perfumer Luca Gritti - 2019 Here is a veiled promise, the whispers on mist shrouded islands, a siren call from across the water, it is the scent intoned across the waves. How long will it be before you return?, an insistent beckoning, distance dissolving. A wave to catch you and set you upon that shoreline where time ceases and you are swept in the joy of the sand and sea. Lido is the sight of her profile rising from the sea, the ‘hiraeth’, the longing to return. The sensation of this sight of immortality wrought in stone and water made flesh, all manner of seductions drift across and wrap you in wraiths of desire and longing, what your eyes perceive, your soul yearns for…… Lido extends within it an invitation, to return, to whist away moments and relax in a place of unadulterated luxury, luxuries of time, freedom and choice. To scent the airs, kissed by the sea and resplendent with woods and citrus whilst across the lagoon vetiver, amber and patchouli extend tendrils to entice, it is a panorama to excite the body and capture a Soul. Sophisticated, playful and elegant it is the pursuit of leisure par excellence.
Head: bergamot, cedarwood, lemon
Heart: iris, lily of the valley
Background: vetiver, amber, sandalwood, tonka, vanilla, patchouli
Lido - Venezia 1920, 2.Lido 1938, 3. Venice - Danu Seith-Fyr 2019
4. Luca Gritti - Perfumer
Oud Royale - Perfumer Luca Gritti 2019. Ah such wicked webs we weave, here is a deeply seductive trickster, opulent and a tad naughty, a veiled beauty in the darkest night, attired in brocade and silks, trailing in her wake a veritable sumptuous invitation to follow and follow you must, for you have been summoned by Venice herself. Venice with a cloak of dark velvet about her marble cast shoulders, she is not one to be denied but you must find your way through narrow passages and streets that have hidden corners at every turn. Cast within Oud Royale is Venice at her most voluptuous and secretive. Lavish and liberal she invites our most Dionysic self to imbibe. Taste it all, throw cautions to the zephyrs and unveil all your own shrouded fancies whatever they be, Venice inspires them all. The decadence of a rose whose depth is unfathomable combined with iris, gives Oud Royale its pulsing heart, one that will not be contained even with the coming of sun’s first light, for that is merely the signal to retire with a little ‘Blanc de Blanc’ and recuperate in gardens for the insatiable night to follow. Dare to catch the scent of her gown as she passes, the slight heave of flesh encased in bodice, layers of wealth carved in palest skin, the shard of piercing excitement in masked eyes, where an exchange of glance can leave you breathless and replete, if only for a moment. By all the Gods!, she is a mischievous addiction, a seductress par excellence, who am I to argue. She has a slightly more discrete twin whose power is evident the moment you step inside her room and disrobe, ‘Divine’, but I shall save her attributes for another time. Oud Royale is the scent of undiluted pleasures in the hands of the Mistress, the ancient cortigiane oneste would most definitly have had this perfume in their armoury for it takes no prisioners and lays men to waste in its wake. My kind of Venetian experience.
Head: cedar wood, orange, lemon
Heart: rose, Iris
Background: saffron, patchouli, musk, oud from Laos
Oud Royale - Venezia 1920, 2. Juliette Scott. 3. Unsplash 4. Venice Carnival 5. Luca Gritti- Perfumer. 6. Shadowplay - Julian D.
Samples and bottles kindly gifted from Venezia 1920 and Gianluca.
My thanks…
You can find Venezia 1920 here -
https://venezia1920.com/pages/la-maison
https://venezia1920.com/products/blanc-de-blanc
https://venezia1920.com/products/lido
https://venezia1920.com/products/oud-royale
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https://www.instagram.com/venezia1920/?hl=en
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