Imagining Catholicism at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER
By Phyllis Zagano

Singer Rihanna arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York May 7 for the exhibit "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination." (CNS/Carlo Allegri, Reuters)

While it's always important to consider the other person's point of view, get ready for strong emotions if you visit the "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's about as "other" as you can get. You may have seen the photos of various glitterati attending the "Met Gala" -- the dress code was "Sunday Best."To my mind, there are many circles of "otherness" here. To begin with, all the costume models, live at the gala and in plaster in the museum, are female. The Catholic vestments are the real deal; the Vatican lent some 40 pieces from the Sistine Chapel sacristy. So, everything sacred was male and everything profane was female. [More]