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rich champaign of Tuscany, dotted over with many a smiling
village. The season was spring.[...]A golden haze. [...]Off the towers of
Florence, while the bank on which she sat was carpeted with
violets. All unobserved Antonio stole up behind her--"
From E.M Forster's novel Room with a View.
Sometimes you come across a visage that speaks where no words are uttered. There is a nobility in the brow, vulnerability in the eyes, lips of petal soft promise and your heart aches a little. It doesn't matter where or when you see it, your psyche remembers it with a longing that remains unexplicable and beyond the carnal. True beauty in the spiritual sense has this effect. If that emotion was bottled in a flacon to be tentatively dosed for reminiscence's sake, it would be Pontevecchio W by Nobile 1942.
A feminine scent that compliments the male Pontevecchio, it is based on Iris Florentina, the precious rhizomes of which are proving to be so popular these last few seasons. Of course the Florentine rapport is not lost on us: Pontevecchio is the bridge over Arno, bien entendu.
And what does this journey to Florence smell like you ask?
"A young girl, transfigured by Italy! And why shouldn't she be transfigured? It happened to the Goths!"It is those memorable words by Eleanor Lavish, the quirky and melodramatic novelist played by Judi Dench in Merchant-Ivory's film 1985 film "Room with a View" that come to mind.
Nobile 1942 chose well in picking Florence as the backdrop for their feminine tour de force. Please take a moment to see the promotional presentation devised for this perfume:click here
The mood evoked is also matched by the sublime music of Zbigniew Preisner’s “Van den Budenmayer concerto in Mi minore” for Krzysztof Kieślowski’s film “La double vie de Veronique”. (The soprano is Polish singer Elzbieta Towarnicka).
The effect is trully haunting in its beauty...
(uploaded by mixailaggelos2004)
Pontevecchio for women plays upon the delicate iris like a harp in the hands of an angel. The softest caress of magical powdery rose enfolds it, singing together like crystalline soprani melancholic tunes. The citrusy top notes bring cool air straight from behind the Pearly Gates it seems with a virginal feel of silent luminosity. It combines elements of both Bulgari Pour Femme and Creed's Fleurissimo into a lovely garland of precious flowers. The apricoty cheek of a Madonna with child, O mio Bambino Caro from Gianni Schicchi by Puccini, a karyatis supporting on her delicate head a florentine palazzo floor; pure unadulterated classicism beckoning you into succumbing to its charms.
It cools down into an indefinable emrace of musk and wood that is silky skin soft.
Pontevecchio Woman comes in both colonia intensa (eau de toilette) and fragranza suprema (eau de parfum), the former being a little more citrusy and crystalline and my personal preference. They both have very good lasting power on skin.
Official notes:
Top: bergamot, mandarin, coriander seeds
Middle: iris florentina, bulgarian rose, jasmine from India
Bottom: white musk, ambery woods, sandalwood from India
Live the dream renting this filmand read the book online here.
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I MUST try this lovely thing! What a beautiful review!
ReplyDelete(And yes, "Troy" was a truly terible film, though one other thing was good about it: Peter O'Toole. The scene where he asks for his son's body back is wonderful in its tragedy.)
What a wonderful review, helg. I am putting this scent on my must-try list. "A Room with a View" is one of my all time favorite movies. Funny thing is, I recently watched it (in pieces) while I was excercising. I detest exercising, and the only way I can do it is to watch something that will take my mind off it. BTW, I refused to see the movie Troy. No can do!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wonderful article on Pont W.
I found the promotional presentation on the link provided trite and had to cringe a little bit when I saw the ...ring sparkle...(urk!) BUT, your review is very beautiful, combining so many favorites it was hard to believe they were all there: A room with a view, O mio Bambino Caro, the movie, La Double Vie de Veronique, and most of all, the music of the movie! (I adore the whole soundtrack cd, some of it is just plainly strange, some of it is utterly lovely...)
ReplyDeleteDivina
Thanks Flora! :-)
ReplyDeletePeter O'Toole can do no wrong in my books and that scene is up there in tragic splendour indeed.
In fact I believe it is the whole point of the Iliad, as it actually ends on that note (the Homeric text I mean, not the movie!): that some things are too sacred even for bloodthirsty wronged heroes such as Achilles; that pain should unite people and instill respect(his pain on losing Patrocles, Priamus' on losing his son).
Dear Freegracer, thanks for the compliments. I trully, trully loved this fragrance. It's up there on my to buy list.
ReplyDeleteRoom with a view is a favourite both in novel and film form. (and I can hear you about exercise needing its own distraction, LOL!)
Dear D,
ReplyDeleteLOL, well, some promo is sometimes directed to non perfumistas, I think. (the ring! good point...)
Thank you for your compliment and I appreciate the fact that we share so many loves. (isn't the music of Veronique eerie? Trully memorable!)
La Double Vie de Veronique?
ReplyDeleteLOL, this sounds as if it was made for you, Rony! :-)
ReplyDelete