While the first Monday in May brought out A-listers and a glittering red carpet, this past Monday saw some of New York and Italy’s finest reassemble at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a private tour of this year’s exhibition, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”

Remarks from Wendy Yu curator in charge of the Costume Institute Andrew Bolton gave the eager crowd added insight as they took in the exhibition, which spans the Medieval and Byzantine galleries, with the Vatican collection being housed in the museum’s nearby Anna Wintour Costume Center gallery.