Working alongside scientists from Slovenia, the team managed to trap the scent of the Renaissance masterpiece on a felt-tip pen and will now make it available to visitors for a trial period.

Elżbieta Zygier, the chief conservator of the National Museum in Krakow, said: “We cannot spray this scent around the space for various reasons, including the safety of the facility, and taking into account the organic compounds, we didn’t want to spray it excessively around the room.”

Instead, visitors will be able to smell the pen for a few days before staff decide whether to make it a permanent addition.

Using specialist equipment, researchers were able to extract the odor lingering above the painting as part of a Polish-Slovenian project aimed at creating “a library of scents” of historic objects. Among other things, museum staff say this initiative stands to attract visually impaired visitors.

According to Zygier, the painting’s aroma is open to interpretation. Calling it “pleasant and complex,” Zygier herself defines the smell as “citrusy” but also a little “unfamiliar.”

She added: “It definitely smells of the walnut board on which it is painted, and also of the paints that were used—oil and tempera—as well as varnish. But because it's been repainted in parts, many smells have accumulated. For me, though, it is a pleasant citrus that is the most dominant.”

The Lady with an Ermine was the first work to undergo this treatment, though nine other objects will also be examined. These include works by Stanisław Wyspiański, Olga Boznańska, and Alina Szapocznikow, as well as a snuff box belonging to the iconic Slovenian poet France Prešeren.