'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQH/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAMLlLf/EABwQAAICAwEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAxEABRJykv/aAAgBAQABPwCDaBJJGkCrPyqKeLNfVYdy1nogHzn/xAAYEQACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgERIf/aAAgBAgEBPwBZZds//8QAGBEAAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECEUH/2gAIAQMBAT8AlTw//9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The 2024 Paris Olympics's opening ceremony was marred with outrage after many accused the event of being disrespectful and blasphemous. This outcry arose due to a controversial tableau featuring drag queens which many assumed was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper', a painting featuring Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles.
However, Thomas Jolly, the opening ceremony's artistic director, denied this claim and added that the inspiration for the tableau was rooted in Greek mythology. Speaking to news channel BFMTV on July 28, he said:
“It’s not my inspiration and that should be pretty obvious. There’s Dionysus arriving on a table. Why is he there? First and foremost because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology and the tableau is called ‘Festivity’."
He further added:
"He is also the god of wine, which is also one of the jewels of France, and the father of Séquana, the goddess of the river Seine. The idea was to depict a big pagan celebration, linked to the gods of Olympus, and thus the Olympics.”
He added that it was not his aim to "mock or denigrate" anybody, rather, he wanted to create something that reaffirmed the French values of "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity."
The tableau featured Nicky Doll and other drag queens from Drag Race France, with French actor Philippe Katerine in blue body paint as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and pleasure.
While Jolly confirmed that 'The Last Supper' was not the source of inspiration, many online looked to another painting they claimed resembled the tableau.
Netizens wondered whether the Olympics performance was inspired by 17th-century Dutch painter Jan van Bijlert's 1635 work called 'The Feast of the Gods.' The painting, currently exhibited at the Magnin Museum in Dijon, France, portrayed the gods on Mount Olympus feasting after the marital union of Thetis and Peleus.
Netizens compare the controversial Olympics tableau to the 'The Feast of the Gods'
The 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony caused much controversy amidst a musical performance with Marie Antoinette's guillotined head and a drag queen tableau that some deemed as a mockery of Christianity. Meanwhile, Thomas Jolly confirmed that the tableau was inspired by events from Greek mythology.
Following this, many social media users pointed out the resemblance between the tableau and Jan Hermansz van Bijlert's 'The Feast of the Gods.' Bijlert was a Dutch Golden Age painter whose art style was influenced by Italian painter Caravaggio.
According to the Magnin Museum's website, the painting features Apollo, the God of the Sun, the Light, the Music, and Prophecy, in the middle with his lyre. To his left are Minerva, Mars, Venus, Diana, Cupid, and Flora, and to his right are Hercules, Eris, and Neptune. In the foreground, we can see Bacchus, or Dionysus, on the ground holding a bunch of grapes.
In the Olympics tableau, the blue-painted Dionysus can be seen served on a platter. Behind him are the drag queens, their position reminiscent of Apollo and the other gods feasting on the table.
The 2024 Summer Olympics, scheduled to end on August 11, hosts more than 200 nations.
