With Dior, I Lived Every Bibliophile’s Dream: A Private Visit to the Vatican Library

There are journeys that are measured in miles, days, and hours, and others that are measured in pages and chapters. In their own way, collections of fashion, art, or books can also be a journey; and in this sense, the Vatican Library is perhaps among the most extraordinary and profound. Living in Rome, we often forget that Vatican City is a state, the smallest in the world. At the Permit Office I clasp my passport in my hands, aware that I am crossing a border. Only later, when I returned to Italy, did I realize how symbolic that very bureaucratic gesture was.

Welcoming me at the entrance of the Vatican Library is Don Giacomo Cardinali, commissioner of the Exhibition Hall and Aiuto-Scriptor, that is, part of the scientific staff that is in charge of cataloging and studying the library’s various holdings. It is he who guides me through the stories of En Route, the exhibition he curated together with Simona De Crescenzo, Francesca Giannetto, and Delio V. Proverbio with the support of Maison Dior. It is a project that celebrates the universal power of travel through the visions of Maria Grazia Chiuri, singer Lorenzo Jovanotti Cherubini and visual artist Kristjana S Williams.