It was a good metaphor for Catholicism’s view of itself — that it is objectively good, magnificent, and splendid, and the source of creativity and inspiration. Originally intending to cover many religions, The Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton (who is also Catholic) told The New York Times in November that he found that the majority of Western designers engaged mostly with Catholicism. Even more narrowly, the exhibit focused nearly entirely on Western Catholicism; there are only three non-European or non-American names within the showcase (of which I was only able to locate one — Japan’s Jun Takahashi of Undercover — with a clutch of dresses printed with imagery from the Garden of Eden. In a day and age when most museums are engaging with the idea of plurality and abundance, the focus on such a small sliver of a religion is certainly a choice, especially when you consider that there are more Catholics living in Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines than in America or any European country. Certainly, the exclusion of everything but the most Roman version of the Catholic church helped in securing over 40 items from the Catholic church’s Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel Sacristy.