The papal wardrobe

The vestments and regalia worn by the pope have long been used to convey the role’s primacy and singularity in the Catholic Church as both temporal and spiritual sovereign. This chapter describes the evolution of papal garb, alongside their visual and textual representations, from the twelfth century to the present day. It also maps the changing sites of the reception of the pope’s appearance over eight centuries, considering how the papacy has mobilized clothing to convey meaning in different pastoral, political, and media contexts. Clothing and regalia have been used strategically and deliberately, at various times, to represent the pope’s spiritual humility, his wealth and prestige, his status as international diplomat, and his sovereignty.