(Spoiler alert: It’s no small part of what brings us Catholics back each week.)Īnother view would caution, however, that the Met Gala linked the church to a cult radically different from the one honored in the daily Mass: the cult of celebrity. Patrick’s Cathedral some Sunday to see if this liturgical finery is still in use. Those who attend the exhibit may find their way down Fifth Avenue to the door of St. It’s hard to imagine that those commenters, even those more interested in Versace than the Vatican, could fail to ponder the meaning of the processional crosses, reliquaries and vestments on display. The eruption of enthusiasm on Twitter and Instagram on Monday night testifies to this possibility. Katy Perry attends the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” exhibition on May 7, 2018, in New York. It may even have led some to wonder, “Perhaps, there’s something for me in the church.” For one sequin-studded night (and for the duration of the exhibit), the general public had occasion to ponder the church’s long cultural treasury. It’s easily forgotten today that Catholicism once reached into every sphere of life, including fashion, architecture, music. As the haute couture Monday seemed to recognize, Catholicism has a deep design history that is all but inseparable from Western material culture. On the one hand, a proud Catholic could see the festivities and the accompanying exhibit, which had the cooperation of the Vatican’s Department of Culture, as a welcome way for the church to engage with one of the most intensively followed and creative sectors of popular culture. This year, the ball’s theme was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” For practicing Roman Catholics, watching the red carpet coverage was at once thrilling and troubling. The Met Gala - the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual fundraiser to benefit its Costume Institute - has become the New York fashion world’s high holiday, a contest of sorts in which movie stars, music idols, professional athletes and all manner of undefined celebrities try to outdo one another for the most over-the-top or dazzlingly elegant formal wear. At Monday’s (May 7) Met Gala, Catholicism was beyond chic. Madonna, meanwhile, as a queen draped in black, was strikingly sedate. Here, we turned a critical eye to rank the evening’s best art-inspired looks.(RNS) - Rihanna came as a burlesque pope. The Catholic theme also lent itself to plenty of art historical references, thanks to the church’s long history as a patron of the arts. The main trend was elaborate headpieces, crowns, and halos, clearly inspired by religious iconography. Keeping in mind the more conservative tastes of the Vatican, which loaned a slew of works to the exhibition, guests largely avoided the so-called “naked dresses” popular at Met Galas of recent vintage. The star-studded evening was celebrating the opening of “ Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” featuring contemporary fashions inspired by the Catholic faith, as well as a selection of garments lent by the Vatican, on view at the museum through October 8.Īppropriately, the celebrities in attendance included a number of famous Catholics, such “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert and Madonna, who later performed her 1989 hit, “Like a Prayer”-known for its controversial music video’s use of religious imagery, such as burning crosses-inside the party. All eyes were on the Metropolitan Museum of Art last night for the Costume Institute’s annual megawatt Met Gala.
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