Etiquette and the Papal Wardrobe

Heavenly Bodies — Fashion and the Catholic Imagination... Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council, had been wanting for some time for the dicastery to focus on the relationship between fashion, art and faith, and agreed to collaborate with an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art because of the Met’s significance to culture and the potential global outreach, but officials were unaware of the widely criticized gala that took place last Monday night. “We wanted to be involved and those behind it had good intentions,” a Vatican official told the Register. The Met Gala “crossed a line and was openly, brazenly disrespectful,” wrote Piers Morgan, Catholic talk show host. Pop singer Rihanna dressed up as a provocative, sequinned pope and actress Jennifer Lopez wore a jewel-encrusted multi-coloured cross. The Met Gala is the annual curtain-raising event for its Summer exhibit. The Vatican has loaned 40 priceless items which serve as the “cornerstone” of the display, including “papal robes and accessories from the Sistine Chapel sacristy, many of which have never been seen outside the Vatican.”  – National Catholic Register Blogger Edward Pentin

A Wonderful Wardrobe

“The most costly wardrobe in the world is to be found at Rome, and belongs to the Pope,” says M. A. P. Each day etiquette compels him to wear different garments, and as nearly all of them are ornamented with rich and rare gems, no millionaire could hope to purchase them, even if a value could be placed on them. The Pope's little skull caps are of the finest and most beautiful of silk, while his slippers of embroidered velvet are gorgeous to look at, being works of art. His gloves, made of white wool, are still more costly, embroidered as they are, with fine pearls in the shape of a cross. A special flock of fifty sheep are kept, from which all the Papal woolen garments are manufactured. The surplices are of the most valuable and beautiful lace, while one long cape, the cappa magna, which is rarely worn, hangs straight from the shoulders, and literally gleams from top to bottom with gold and precious stones. The rings, too, which the Pope wears are priceless, containing, as they do, many stones of matchless quality. – Los Angeles Herald, 1910

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia