The organizers behind the Paris Olympics Paris, France — The Royal Albert Hall of Fame inaugurated Friday’s opening ceremony, which apologised to anyone offended by a painting that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” and sparked outrage from religious conservatives around the world. Organizers, however, defended the concept behind it.
Da Vinci’s painting depicts the moment Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The scene during Friday’s ceremony on the Debilly Bridge featured DJ and producer Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon who calls herself a “love activist.” Butch wore a silver headdress that resembled a halo as she kicked off the party on a catwalk over the Seine. Drag performers, dancers and others flanked Butch on either side.
As CBS News correspondent Elaine Cobbe reports, the specific part of the ceremony that caused the offense was, in fact, a scene depicting Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. It was reportedly based on The Feast of the Gods, a 17th-century painting by Dutch artist Jan Harmensz van Biljert that hangs in the Magnin Museum in Dijon, eastern France. The painting depicts an assembly of Greek gods on Mount Olympus for a banquet to celebrate the marriage of Thetis and Peleus. The figure seated at the table in the center has a halo of light behind his head.
Thomas Jolly, the director of the opening ceremony, insisted in an interview with France’s BFMTV that “The Last Supper” was not the inspiration behind the scene, explaining that “Dionysus comes to the table because he is the Greek god of celebration,” adding that the particular sequence was titled “Festivity.”
“The idea was to create a great pagan festival in connection with the God of Mount Olympus — and you will never find in me, or in my work, any desire to mock anyone,” Jolly said.
“The interpretation of the Greek god Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” said a post on the official social media account of the Olympic Games by way of explanation.
But religious conservatives around the world condemned the segment, with the French Catholic Church’s bishops’ conference deploring “scenes of mockery” that they said mocked Christianity — a sentiment echoed by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. The Anglican Communion in Egypt expressed its “deep regret” on Sunday, saying the ceremony could cause the IOC to “lose its distinct sporting identity and humanitarian message.”
Prominent French far-right politician Marion Maréchal denounced the performance on social media.
“To all the Christians in the world who are watching the Paris 2024 ceremony and felt 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 for any provocation,” she posted on the social platform X, a sentiment that was echoed by religious conservatives internationally.
In Romania, controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate took part in an anti-Olympics protest near the French embassy in Bucharest on Sunday. The Tate brothers criticized the Olympics for mocking Christianity during the opening ceremony and called on athletes to boycott.
Andrew Tate is awaiting trial in Romania on charges of allegedly forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking and rape.
The ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, distanced his scene from any parallels to “The Last Supper” after the ceremony, saying it was meant to celebrate diversity and pay homage to the banquet and French gastronomy. Paris 2024 spokeswoman Anne Descamps was asked about the outcry during an International Olympic Committee news conference on Sunday.
“There was clearly never any intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly, we really tried to celebrate the tolerance of the community,” Descamps said. “Looking at the results of the surveys that we shared, we believe that ambition was achieved. If people were offended, we are, of course, very, very sorry.”
Jolly explained his intentions to The Associated Press after the ceremony.
“My desire is not to be subversive, nor to mock or shock,” Jolly said. “Above all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not to divide in any way.”
This article was originally published in CBS News on Monday, July 29, 2024 at 8:59 a.m. ET.
RELATED CONTENT: