Serge Lutens De Profundis

The man himself a master of magical realism, anyone familiar with Serge Lutens knows his tendencies toward the melancholic, the wretched and ceremonial. Captor and captive in his own gothic universe, his perfumes are an olfactory encapsulation of tragedy and optimism. This one is no different.

“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord!” opens Psalm 130, in Latin known as De profundis. De Profundis being also the title Oscar Wilde bestowed upon his poignant 50,000-word letter penned from his Reading Gaol cell. Both writings unified in theme, both expressive of sorrow for sin and both beseeching absolution – it is here Serge Lutens found inspiration for the 2011 entry to his Paris exclusive line and now Gratte-ciel bottled De Profundis.

Abandoned atop a loved one’s cold-to-the-touch tombstone in the foggy chill of dawn, a dew-dripped bouquet of funerary flowers – chrysanthemums, hyacinths, dahlias and gladiolas – rests atop its granite pedestal. The flowers, bound in stiffly knotted black velvet ribbon, heavy with condensation and limp under its weight have the slightest hint of decay in their sombre perfume. That at least is the image De Profundis conjures for me, a sort of Lutensian ode not to death itself, but rather the solemn aftermath of death. A beautiful if somewhat unsettling image belying an infinitely more beautiful fragrance.

Supposedly a chrysanthemum soliflore – a fragrance dedicated to the scent of a single flower – De Profundis is so very much more than just a soliflore. If an official list of notes exists, I cannot find it, but Luckyscent offers us:

chrysanthemum, violets, green notes, earthy notes, ash, musk

My own experience wearing De Profundis would suggest a notes list closer to this:

chrysanthemum, hyacinth, dahlia, gladiolus, violets, lily-of-the-valley, green notes, incense ash, musk, earth tincture

With nary a tuberose, rose or jasmine bud in sight, De Profundis’ floral accord is as beguiling as it is ethereal. Throughout the composition, the chrysanthemum is particularly beautiful in its cold bitter green pepperiness, smelling ever so slightly of decay, contrasting nicely the delicate green character of the other florals and violet’s own powderiness. Though there is a lushness in the opening – a sort of dewy green earthen budiness – De Profundis is rather linear in its development. The opening’s green tendrils pull back to an extent to reveal more of the other notes, but still, from first application to its dying hour, De Profundis is a refined floral accord commingled with a fleshy base of musk, damp earth and incense ash.

In all its violet-hued glory, housed like a deadly poison it is apothecarial bell jar, I find De Profundis exquisitely beautiful. Lutens might well have been inspired by death, but De Profundis is far removed from death itself, and here belies its elegance. Oscar Wilde wrote in his De Profundis that “sorrow is the most sensitive of all created things,” and Lutens seems to have run with this idea in crafting De Profundis. On the one hand, De Profundis is unsettling, detached, cold; on the other, its quietude is comforting, its abstraction spellbinding. Having worn De Profundis for a number of years, it coming close to a signature of mine for a while, I have come to accept that despite its great sillage, it is very much an introspective perfume, one beyond the comprehension of the masses, best worn for self-enjoyment and appreciation.

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Year of Release: 2011

Creative Direction: Serge Lutens

Perfumer: Christopher Sheldrake

Alternatives: Chanel Bel Respiro

Available: www.sergelutens.com for €290, 100ml (rebottled as part of the Gratte-ciel collection).