27 February 2008

Santa Sephora

Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Sephora, anywhere

I've always wondered about the iconography behind Sephora. It seems as thought they just sprouted whole and wholesale across the country one day and we all just accepted a new mecca into our hearts and battered sequined cosmetic bags. In class the other day, my professor showed a slide of Santa Maria Novella in Florence and it all became abundantly clear. It's rather hard to tell in the photo, but the place is festooned in horizontal black and white stripes! Somehow, in the magical afterglow of a summer spent in Florence years ago and the products I horded from Santa Maria Novella, I never made the connection between the Pharmacia that the Monks built and the Pharmacia that LVMH built. Silly Jezebel.

2 comments:

Nita Moore said...

Hmm, interesting.
Did you ever go to Siena, about an hour from Florence? The cathedral there is even more stripey than SMN - shockingly so, at least in person.

jezebel said...

oh, i have never been to siena. i just looked at some photos though. i'd like to live in a house like that.