Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/594381
RELIGION AND MYTH "How to understand art and the glory of history without religious spirituality and without the mythical background that leads to the very roots of the artistic phenomenon? Without any of those, we would not have the Egyptian and our own Mexican pyramids, there would be no Gothic cathedrals or Greek temples or the amazement that the Renaissance and the Baroque left, not the ritual dances of the so-called primitive peoples and the inexhaustible treasure of popular artistic sensitivity of all nations on earth." — Architect Luis Barragán Top: Sophia Loren in White Sister, 1971 Above, left: Sebastian Faena's Nun Head, 2008, Pop magazine Above, right: Steven Klein's Kate Moss for W magazine, March 2012 Santa Maria Novella Turmeric cream $203, exclusively at net-a-porter.com Rodin lip balm $34, at Kuhl-Linscomb Luis Barragán's Chapel of the Capuchinas in Tlalpan, Mexico City George Nakashima grass-seated chair $3,500, at 1stdibs.com Dolce & Gabbana gold Bijoux filigree earrings with cameo $1,345, at the Dolce & Gabbana boutique, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tootsies Mauricio Limón's Fragile (Honesty, you are not going to get poor and ultimately you are not going to make me rich), 2014, communion wafer and video, $5,000, from an editioned portfolio, through casamaauad.com NUNSPLOITATION T hroughout history, nuns have played a fascinating role in both culture and the arts, from ancient times to today's depictions of the cloistered virgin as Sophia Loren in White Sister to Steven Klein's enigmatic photographs of Kate Moss as a smoking nun. But the subject remains veiled with mystery and intrigue. Strict devotion to one's beliefs requires sacrifice of worldly goods — but there's also a sense of liberation that comes from streamlining to the essence of good design. Steven Hempel The clergy has inspired art, fashion and design for decades. In the 1930s and '40s, the designer Valentina dressed her famous clientele — Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn — like nuns, whom she considered the most stylish people on earth. From editorial to film, the veiled ones have served as inspiration for the most creative of minds. Verdura black jade Maltese cross cuff $56,500, at verdura.com Below: True Grace Sacristy candle $95, at Found Below left: Tom Ford Chiara eyeglasses $380, at the Tom Ford boutique, Kuhl- Linscomb Valentino monk-strap leather brogue $1,075, at the Valentino boutique, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tootsies Valentino Rick Owens Junya Watanabe Givenchy Rosary gold-tone brass bracelet $895, at Neiman Marcus, net-a-porter.com Fendi Peekaboo python and crocodile-trimmed leather tote $5,300 at the Fendi boutique, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue The Row Poems, Protest, and a Dream by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695) includes an appeal for the right of women to study, teach and write, as well as tributes to New World culture, religious verses and even secular love poems (Penguin Classics, $16). The author, a self-taught scholar and poet of the Baroque school, was known as The Tenth Muse. Patrik Fredrikson and Ian Stallard Brush, 2002, inquiries info@ fredriksonstallard.com Givenchy Rochas velvet Mary Jane flat $695, at Laboratoria