On 17 June 2024, a press conference was held at the National Museum in Krakow, during which the research results of the Polish-Slovenian scientific project carried out by the University of Economics in Krakow, in cooperation with the National Museum in Krakow, and the University of Ljubljana and the National Museum of Slovenia were presented. The ‘Odotheka’ project is to be the world’s first library of scents for historic objects. 

As the creators of the project argue, it will not be a traditional museum, it will not even be a building, and there will be no vials or bottles. The ‘Odotheka’ is meant to be a library of knowledge about scent, aiming to show the visitors the full historical context, which includes, among others: place of origin, conservation work or exhibition conditions. The project will result in a collection of recipes for reproducing the smell of a given monument. We will learn what chemical compounds need to be mixed to obtain a specific scent. The scent sprayed near the exhibits could constitute an additional attraction for blind visitors.

The first work from the collection of the National Museum in Krakow that has already been examined is ‘Lady with an Ermine’ by Leonardo da Vinci. Scientists have recreated the scent of the most important Da Vinci painting in Poland, of extraordinary international importance.

‘The smell collected from the surface of the painting was tested in our laboratory. Having advanced measurement equipment: thermal desorber, gas chromatograph, mass spectrometer, olfactometer, we were able to separate the compounds that make up the smell, identify them and give them their names,’ says the project coordinator, Prof. Tomasz Sawoszczuk, a professor at the Kraków University of Economy. 

The cost of the mentioned equipment stands at over PLN 1.2 million. In total, Polish scientists received almost PLN 2.5 million from the National Science Center for the project

The „Odotheka” project started on 1 December 2021, and will last until 2025. The project is financed under the WEAVE/NCN – OPUS 20 + LAP program by the Slovenian Research Agency and the Polish National Science Center.

Cover photo: X @matijastrlic