Ancient sculptures are beautiful and put on display the incredible talent and hard work that their sculptors put into them. They are visually impressive, and if you are lucky enough to be able to touch one, you will see that they are also remarkably smooth.

According to a study published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, however, sight and touch are not the only senses that their creators wanted you to use when enjoying their work.

At least sculptors in ancient Rome And Greece, it seems that they also wanted people to smell them.

This is evident by the fact that there is evidence that the sculptures had perfumes and other fragrances applied to them.

Dr. Cecilie Brons is the author of the study, and she said in a statement to IFLScience:

“This idea of scented statues has been raised by scholars before in relation to cult statues. In my study I have tried to gather the various sources to this phenomenon, which appears to have been more common than expected.”

She found that there was a surprising amount of writing in ancient texts that talked about it.

Kallimachos was a Greek poet and he is known to have written about a sculpture of Egyptian queen Berenice II, saying that it was ‘wet with perfume.’

Brons also wrote that she found inscriptions in multiple different temples in Delos, Greece describing this. In her statement she said that the inscriptions…:

“specifically state that the perfume used is myron rhodion: perfume made from roses.”

In addition to pouring perfumes onto the statues, another method of adding fragrance to them was used known as kosmesis. This used oils to protect the scents and help them to last longer, while also preserving the sculpture.

Brons wrote about this practice specifically concerning a sculpture of Aphrodite, saying:

“these descriptions are not metaphorical, but in fact relate to actual rituals carried out for the statues of the divinities.”

So, if you ever find yourself admiring any type of ancient sculpture, make sure to take a whiff and see if you can pick up on any scent.

While it likely wore off centuries ago, it is certainly worth a try.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.