GAB 76 (Grishin’s Art Blog number 76)

The Last Supper at the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris 2024

Thomas Jolly designer, Opening ceremony Paris Olympics, 2024 and after Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper, 1494, Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy

 What was the Last Supper doing in the Opening Ceremony at the Paris Olympic Games?
 
I had just driven from Canberra to Melbourne when I received a message that a reporter from the New York Times wanted to speak to me concerning the controversy that had broken out about the use of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper at the Olympic Opening Ceremony, interpreted as a performance by drag queens.
 
When I compared the image of the tableau in Paris with Leonardo’s iconic painting the resemblance was striking. Behind a festive horizontal table in the foreground, in the centre was a seated figure with a halo - the halo obvious in Paris, subtle in Leonardo - with a group of gesticulating diners on either side. The parallel was obvious.
 
I gave my interview that was published in a very abridged format and other American newspapers quoted this account. I was surprised that my comments proved controversial.

Last Supper, c.1050, Golden Gospel Book of Henry III, Escorial, Codex Vitrinas 17, fol. 25r

At the beginning, the official line by the Opening Ceremony’s artistic director, the actor Thomas Jolly, was that this tableau was a ceremony that depicted the Greek god Dionysus (god of fertility, wine and pleasure) and was a re-enactment of an ancient festival meant to honour him. In other words, a ‘big piss up’ celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community.
 
Responding to the howls of protest that Nicky Doll and the stars of Drag Race France were involved in a satirical sketch where drag queens, a transgender model, a naked singer made up as Dionysus, and a child were involved in a direct parody of the Last Supper, Jolly stuck to his guns and said that Leonardo’s Last Supper was not his model.
 
Others in the French camp admitted that Leonardo’s painting may have been a source, but Jolly, as a 42-year-old gay, Jewish activist, had no intention of insulting anyone. Jolly’s argument remains, and I quote, “In France, we have the right to love each other, as we want, with whoever we want, in France we have the right to believe and not to believe. In France, we have many rights.” It is a sentiment that is difficult to disagree with but, in France, do you have the right to offend whoever you like?
 
It is difficult not to see the parallel between Jolly’s tableau and the Last Supper when they are placed side-by-side. In the tableau, the place of Christ is taken by the centrally placed DJ Barbara Butch, a champion of queer rights, with an adapted halo on her head and with groups of gay apostles on either side of her – more than the statutory twelve, but when you are having a party – hey, who's counting? The great Jacopo Tintoretto in his The Last Supper, 1592-94, certainly had a huge cast.
 

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Last Supper, 1592-94, oil on canvas, 365 x 568cm, Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

Then the wheels came off the denier camp and the New York Post broke the story under the banner headline: “Paris Olympics admitted opening ceremony drag show was based on ‘Last Supper’ — then tried to walk it back.” To quote the article, “’Thomas Jolly took inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting to create the setting,’ an Olympics spokesperson admitted to The Post in a statement on Saturday, referring to the opening ceremony creative director.”
 
Is the Paris tableau offensive or sacrilegious? This depends on the audience. France has had experience with caricatures of the prophet Muhammad – one assumes that Islam and Judaism are now off limits. Christianity remains a soft target. The Last Supper is a very sacred and sombre part of the Christian belief – where Christ establishes communion – the Eucharist – and announces that one of his chosen will betray him. He accepts this betrayal and shows that he is prepared to be crucified for the salvation of humankind.
 
In retrospect, possibly this tableau was not a smart move and was bound to offend many practising Christians.