3/18/2023 0 Comments Heavenly bodies cloistersThe entirety of the building was devoted to the exhibition, with at least one fashion object in every space, and here they were truly in conversation with their surroundings-Cristobal Balenciaga’s 1967 “one-seam wedding dress,” was displayed as if in prayer in the Fuentidueña Chapel. There, visitors found the fullest expression of the exhibition’s immersive ambitions. And despite their intricacy, these objects are not the true treasures of the Vatican collection: apart from one papal mantle from the eighteenth century, all date to the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.Īrguably, the true exhibition was at the Cloisters in upper Manhattan, a substantial trek that felt like a pilgrimage and was a worthwhile venture. At the same time, they seemed disconnected from the emotive power of the rest of the show. ![]() Separated in this way, the Vatican objects related to the fashion pieces as sartorial inspiration only. Unlike the other galleries, this display was purposefully clinical, inviting viewers to marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship of each object. The works included elaborately embroidered vestments, jewel-encrusted papal tiaras, and Pope John Paul II’s distinctive Prada shoes. In the Anna Wintour Costume Center, objects from the Vatican were displayed separately from the fashion pieces. It was, indeed, an experience for visitors, who had to wander the galleries from one area to another-and risk missing part of the show unless vigilant. The radiating layout was designed to elicit the “concept and practice of pilgrimage” on an “experiential level” (96). ![]() From the opposite entrance to the room, the entire tableau evoked the majesty of an altar in devotion to the Virgin Mary. Beyond the screen, another diaphanous Mugler gown, embellished with crystals, was suspended from the ceiling. Elevated on pedestals and accessorized with wings, they resembled angels. A pair of draped Thierry Mugler dresses flanked the passageway through a choir screen. Working in concert with the existing display, already set up to echo the layout of a church, the exhibition provided an emotive, transcendent viewing experience. The main installation in the Metropolitan Museum’s Fifth Avenue building, which comprised both couture and ready-to-wear works, radiated out from the central gallery of Medieval and Byzantine art with further objects in the Robert Lehman Wing and along a route to the Anna Wintour Costume Center. Credit is due to the conservation team at the Costume Institute, headed by Sarah Scaturro, whose work dressing and mounting the display made possible the exhibition’s arresting, immersive effect. The exhibition design, by architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, capitalized on light and height to endow each space with its own environment, and a distinctive soundtrack used the emotive power of song to envelop visitors as they entered. As curator Andrew Bolton writes in the exhibition catalogue, it examined “how the Catholic imagination has shaped the creativity of designers and how it is conveyed through their fashions” (96). Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, the latest exhibition from the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explored the influence of Catholicism on fashion.
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