The artistic director of the LGBT-themed opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics has insisted he had not intended to depict the Last Supper, after an apparent parody of the biblical event sparked outrage from Christians around the world.
Olympic opening ceremony artistic director Thomas Joly denied Sunday that his work was “inspired” by Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” despite striking similarities between the painting and a drag queen tableau that was performed at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
“I had no intention of mocking or disparaging anything. I wanted to do a ceremony that would repair, reconcile and reaffirm the values of our republic,” Jolie said in a statement. report by Figaro.
The French artistic director insisted that the Last Supper was “not my inspiration”, saying: “I think it’s clear that we see Dionysus arriving at this table. Why is he there? It’s because he is the god of the wine festivals and the father of the goddess Sequana, who is associated with rivers.”
“Rather, the idea was to create a great pagan festival linked to the Olympian gods,” he said.
Jolie also denied that she intended to glorify political violence by depicting Marie Antoinette’s decapitation, saying she “does not glorify the guillotine, an instrument of execution.”
“If we use our work to re-create division and hatred and allow it to grow, that would be a great shame because I believe we’ve been building some peace,” he said.
Fellow Christians around the world, #Paris2024 If you attend the ceremony and feel insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking, but a left-wing minority ready to respond to any provocation. #NotMyName
À tous les chrétiens du monde… pic.twitter.com/GusP2TR63u
— Marion Marechal (@MarionMarechal) July 26, 2024
Jolie’s comments came after organisers of the opening ceremony released a statement that offered no real apology, saying: “We are of course truly sorry if anyone was offended.”
This apparent mockery of Christianity sparked outrage around the world, with Catholic Bishop Robert Barron calling the drag scene a “grossly flippant mockery” of “a very central moment in Christianity.”
The bishop of the Winona-Rochester Diocese added: “Would they have dared to mock Islam in a similar way? Would they have dreamed of making such vulgar and public mockery of a scene from the Quran? We all know the answer.”
There was also a backlash in France, with former Culture Minister Philippe de Villiers declaring: “We are committing national suicide before the whole world.”
“To all Christians around the world who watched the Paris 2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France who is speaking, but a minority on the left ready for any provocation. Not in my name,” said right-wing populist MEP Marion Maréchal.
Cathedral glows as ‘technical glitch’ leaves Paris in darkness after ‘depraved’ Olympic ceremonyhttps://t.co/qCYES5luJ3
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 28, 2024
