Bleuze-Hadancourt Parfumeur c. 1899

This lithographic poster for Bleuze-Hadancourt Parfumeur features a woman in a white dress, framed by blossoming flowers and a circular halo. The flowers, with their open, radiant faces, have long been symbols of life, beauty, and renewal across various cultures. Consider the halo, it is an emblem often seen in religious art to denote holiness or divine grace. The halos in Byzantine mosaics, for instance, and the floral crowns of Botticelli's goddesses, both point to a transcendent beauty. Here, it merges the sacred with the secular. The fragrance she delicately raises to her nose is not merely a scent; it's an invitation to a sensory experience, promising transformation. This conflation is more than aesthetic, engaging viewers on a deep, subconscious level. Flowers and halos are not simply decorative elements; they are vessels carrying centuries of accumulated meaning, promising not just beauty but a touch of the divine, a fleeting moment of sublime experience made accessible through a bottle.