The Paris Olympics opening ceremony has drawn the ire of some for its dance sequence resembling ‘The Last Supper’.
On July 26, the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics Games 2024, or the Paris Olympics, was held. Among a plethora of performances highlighting various artistic and cultural aspects, one performance in particular grabbed the most attention: a voguing performance featuring drag queens. The performance featured an all-drag cast, celebrating around a dining table.
Since its telecast, the performance has been drawing criticism not just from conservatives, but from the general public as well. Many have pointed out the similarities with the painting ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo da Vinci which featured Jesus and his disciples having a final supper before his crucifixion. The performance has been called ‘disrespectful to Christianity’. Notable names like Elon Musk and Mike Johnson (speaker of the House) have also spoken against it.
However, the performance has also been defend by art critics and historians. For instance, voguing – a dance form among queers that originated in New York – has traditionally used religious imagery from ancient religions like Roman and Greek. The performance also had allusions to the Roman god of wine, Bacchus. Others have pointed out that the performance was actually a homage to the 17th-century painting ‘Festival of Gods’ by Jan van Bijlert. The performance did not have 12 performers (to match the 12 disciples in the painting), and the star crown worn by the central performer has traditionally referred to Mary, not Jesus.
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Furthermore, Thomas Jolly – the director of the performance – denied inspiration from The Last Supper and added that “the idea was to create a big pagan party in link with the God of Mount Olympus — and you will never find in me, or in my work, any desire of mocking anyone.”
