Franco Zeffirelli, an Italian film, stage and opera director, told La Stampa newspaper that he would love the role being an image consultant for Pope Benedict XVI.
With Zeffirelli reportedly saying the Pope’s image was ‘cold’ with ‘showy’ clothes, we had to wonder what his terms of reference were. Turns out that Zeffirelli has had an up close and personal experience at the Vatican, working with the late Pope John Paul II. He was employed several times by the Vatican as a designer for the staging of major papal ceremonies.
According to the BBC, when Pope Benedict wore a fur-trimmed red cap, some people mistook it for a Santa Claus hat, with comparisons in their article referencing the late Pope John Paul II’s relaxed attitude to official attire to Pope Benedicts.
It really is a world obsessed with image these days isn’t it?
