Met Gala: Fashion and Catholicism collide in Heavenly Bodies exhibition featuring Vatican treasures
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Dozens of treasures loaned by the Vatican to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art have made their debut as the centrepiece of the star-studded Met Gala.
Tiaras encrusted with thousands of jewels, papal cloaks and vestments with golden embroidery make up the 42 items on loan from the Sistine Chapel's sacristy to the exhibit Heavenly Bodies.
Curator Andrew Bolton said it was the largest show the Met had staged.
"It's 60,000 square feet and it covers really the whole breadth of the museum from when you went to the museum to the very pinnacle of the museum," Mr Bolton said.
"There's also a papal tiara that is made up of 18,000 diamonds and 1,000 emeralds, sapphires and rubies, which is a work of art in and of itself."
Outfits inspired by religious themes and created by names like Gianni Versace, Christian Lacroix, Valentino, and Jean Paul Gaultier are also included in the show.
"Well, The Met gala is organised by Anna Wintour [editor-of-chief of Vogue]. And it's an extraordinary fundraiser for the Costume Institute, a charity event," Mr Bolton said.
"So, in a way we bask in the reflected glory of the gala.
"It is a very symbiotic relationship but they're very different. You know it's very church and state."
This year's Met Gala saw celebrities donning costumes that drew inspiration from religious iconography.
Singer Ariana Grande's dress was of Michelangelo's The Last Judgment, the painting on the back wall of the Sistine Chapel.
Katy Perry wore a metallic mini-dress, long boots and feathery wings that were so broad she was forced to turn sideways as she the entered the museum.
However, the singer was criticised on social media for her attendance at the event as she is currently locked in a fierce legal battle with nuns over the sale of a convent in Los Angeles.
Madonna, whose music video of the 1989 song Like a Virgin was condemned by the Vatican, wore an all-black Jean Paul Gaultier frock with a crown made of crosses.
"Religion and spirituality has informed my work for my entire career, and fashion also, and combining the two is the perfect marriage," Madonna said.
"Then we bring in Jean Paul and it's the perfect three-way!"
Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker chose her gown and headdress from a series of drawings by Italian design house Dolce & Gabbana.
Her intricate headpiece was a Neapolitan nativity altar made to scale, which she said was "extremely comfortable".
Heavenly Bodies opens to the public later this week and runs through to October 8.
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Topics: fashion, arts-and-entertainment, popular-culture, catholic, united-states
