Miguel Matos – Miracle of Roses

120

Amber floral

A blissful nectar that evokes sanctified smells and the emotions of kindness. One day, while looking for inspiration for my fragrance creations and curatorial activity, I stumbled across a statue the Sacred Art Museum of Funchal. It was a sculpture of St Elizabeth Queen of Portugal. And she made me travel in time and scent, through a series of episodes in her life that are deeply connected to fragrant materials and smells of the sanctified.

Top notes: Bread, Milk, Cinnamon.

Heart notes: Rose, Iris, Heliotrope, Immortelle.

Base notes: Honey, Sandalwood, Incense, Woody Notes.

Nose: Miguel Matos.

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Description

Miracle of Roses

A blissful nectar that evokes sanctified smells and the emotions of kindness. One day, while looking for inspiration for my fragrance creations and curatorial activity, I stumbled across a statue the Sacred Art Museum of Funchal. It was a sculpture of St Elizabeth Queen of Portugal. And she made me travel in time and scent, through a series of episodes in her life that are deeply connected to fragrant materials and smells of the sanctified.

Elizabeth was born in Zaragoza, Spain in 1271, she was the daughter of Peter III of Aragon and was married off to King Denis of Portugal in 1282. Throughout her life, Elizabeth demonstrated a great compassion to the poor and legend says she would leave the palace in disguise, in order to take food for the less fortunate.

The Miracle of Roses happens one day when the king discovered that Elizabeth was leaving the palace to take food to the poor. This is something that the queen had been forbidden to do. The king had threatened to lock her up and she was to never leave the palace again if the disobeyed. Despite this, the Queen never stopped feeding the poor and every day she would leave the palace and help her people.

One winter day, Elizabeth left the palace carrying pieces of bread hidden in her dress. As the King saw her going out, he asked, “What you are carrying?” She answered, “Roses, my lord.” As it was winter and roses were nowhere to be found at the time and in that cold weather, he demanded her to show him what she was carrying. When the queen unfolded her dress, roes fell on the floor.

The transformation of bread into roses is a miracle attributed to St Elizabeth of Portugal, a woman that set an example for devotion to God and kindness to her people. After the death of her husband in 1325, she entered the Santa Clara a Velha Monastery in Coimbra where she lived until 1336, when she passed. Pope Urban VIII canonized her in 1625.

In the life of Saint Elizabeth, there are several stories, legends and miracles connected to fragrant subjects and Miracle of Roses is the first chapter of my project around this historical character. The first part is a fragrance I developed with the scents of bread and roses, but also adding “sanctified smells” such as milk, conventual materials like iris and the mystical properties of sandalwood.

Additional information

Size

Extract de Parfum 50ml

Olfactory group

Floral

Nose

Miguel Matos

Gender

Man and Woman

Country

Portugal

Year

2019

Perfumer

Miguel Matos has been an arts and culture journalist for the past 2 decades, and some years ago he found a way of turning an old obsession into a job: he is a scent critic and Scent Art curator.

Calaj - Miguel Matos

He is one of the editors and columnists at Fragrantica.com and Fragrantica.com.br. He organizes exhibitions on art and olfaction for galleries and museums: Synesthesia Project / Per Fummum (Miguel Justino Gallery, Lisbon, 2015), Making the Body Think (Casa da Cerca Contemporary Arts Center, Almada, and Institute for Art and Olfaction, Los Angeles, 2017). He wrote the books Artistas Portugueses em Discurso Direto (Guerra e Paz ed.) and O Zodiaco Perfumado (Pergaminho ed), as well as many art shows catalogs.

He is also the creative director of a fragrance capsule collection with his name within the brand SP Parfums (Suntanglam, Lisbon Blues, Funfair and the upcoming Nowhere Fast).

He likes to talk, and he regularly hosts the series of lectures Perfume Sniffing in Lisbon as well as scented experiences with wine and scent for the Enoteca de Belém (Lisbon). Honorary member of the Perfume Bottle Association. He is a collaborator and writer for special projects at Parfums Grès.

Miguel was recently recognized on the top 5 finalists at the Fragrance Foundation Awards for Editorial Excellence in Fragrance Coverage (2017) and was also nominated for the Perfumed Plume Awards in the same year.

Miguel Matos was the winner of the best perfume in the independent category at The Art and Olfaction Awards in 2020 with the perfume Young Hearts.