Christie and I planned to spend most of Thursday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met had the second part of the “Heavenly Bodies” exhibit. You’ll only be able to see pictures from part of the Met’s exhibit, though. While we could photograph all the clothes, the Vatican did not allow their contributions to be photographed. After all the clothes, there were three small rooms that included Papal crowns and robes. We felt sorry for the guards there who spent most of the time saying, “No photographs.” But, the exhibits were beautiful there, and there is an appropriate conclusion before the Vatican section. You’ll see.

As at the Cloisters, the Met did a beautiful job with the exhibits. For instance, these first dresses, inspired by mosaics, were in the Byzantine room where there are mosaics on the wall. These dresses are Dolce & Gabbana.

These are from the House of Chanel.

I don’t have designers for the following.

Coco Chanel

The next dresses are Versace.

How about these, inspired by mosaics?

The following exhibit is “The Dressed Madonna”.

There was an extensive exhibit of clothes inspired by nuns. However, I wasn’t able to get pictures of many of the outfits that were just black. Black and white provided the right contrast.

Below is a Madonna-wedding ensemble from the House of Dior.

The wedding dress below by Christian Lacroix is inspired by the dressed Madonna associated with Holy Week festivities in Spanish-speaking countries.

The Met had the following dress mounted up above the entranceway. Stunning display that could be seen from a couple rooms away.

The dress below may be an Yves Saint Laurent wedding ensemble, but as she walked by, one woman said, “Well, that’s enough to give you nightmares.”

House of Dior is the first below.

Here’s the story about the chasuble below, which was at the entrance to the Vatican exhibit. It was the last photo taken of this exhibit. “In the 1950s, when Matisse was commissioned to design the interior for the Chapel du Rosaire in Venice, he also created six chasubles. The nuns at the Atelier d’Arts Appliques in Cannes undertook the sewing. This example was the first to be completed. When the chapel’s priest declared it too heavy for regular use, the first director of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, acquired it, in exchange for a lighter replacement vestment.”

So, designed by Matisse.

After going through the “Heavenly Bodies” exhibit, Christie and I made reservations for a late lunch in the Members’ Dining Room, which is no longer for members. It’s now open to the public. The view is gorgeous. It overlooks Central Park. The food was okay.

But, in the meantime, we toured part of another small exhibit, “Visitors to Versailles”.

A Riding Habit

The following three dresses are ones that would have been worn at court at Versailles. The third is from a later period, the 1770s.

Transportation to Versailles.

Below are the ceremonial uniforms of the Cent-Suisses, an elite unit of one hundred Swiss mercenaries charged with protecting the king inside the palace.

Late lunch, and then back to our hotel to rest for a little. Christie told people I wore her out at the Met.

Our final Broadway show was “Carousel”. I’ll admit I was looking forward to this musical. The cast included Joshua Henry, Jessie Mueller, Renee Fleming, and Lindsay Mendez. And, I’d read all about the dances. My honest opinion? While each of the actors has a beautiful voice, and their performances were wonderful, they never gelled. I never felt the right chemistry with the cast. “Carousel” was okay, but Christie and I agreed that our favorites shows were “Come From Away” and “The Play That Goes Wrong.”

And, what better way to end our time in New York City than with dessert from Juniors? We walked over, picked up dessert, and went back for a pajama party our last night. Home the next day.