After the thought-provoking and controversial opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, a particular debate has gained steam. Many viewers were offended by a banquet scene featuring drag performers, as they believed it was a mockery of the Last Supper of the Bible. However, as it turns out, the scene didn’t intend to depict Jesus’ final meal.
The moment. All of a sudden, a blue-painted, blond-bearded, half-naked man appeared on TV screens worldwide. He was accompanied by a diverse group of people, including a crowned lady, drag queens of various appearances (Black queens, blondes queens with beards, queens with blush, queens with long red hair), and a group of lively dancers. In the background, there was a scene reminiscent of The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting.
The reactions. They weren’t long in coming, of course. If the Olympics didn’t intend to provoke debate between the woke (that is, educated and aware of social issues) and the anti-woke, the result was quite the opposite. X owner Elon Musk called the episode “extremely disrespectful to Christians.” U.S. telecoms company C Spire announced it would withdraw its advertising from the Games after being “shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper.”
Even Donald Trump Jr. criticized what he said was “woke ideology” in the performance and described it as a “satanic” parody of Da Vinci’s famous painting. He was joined by other conservative figures such as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). “Using the games to push the woke ideology has zero to do with anything the games stand for," Trump Jr. said on X.
However, the performance wasn’t actually depicting Da Vinci’s work.
It was another painting. It turns out that the scene being depicted was Jan Harmensz van Bijlert’s Le Festin des Dieux (1635), a work preserved in the Musée Magnin in Dijon, France, where the gods of Olympus celebrate the wedding of Thetis and Peleus. Both the Olympic Games and the art director of the ceremony, Thomas Jolly, have confirmed this.
Le Festin des Dieux by Jan van Bijlert.
Jolly explained to several media outlets that there was a misunderstanding. He wasn’t trying to make fun of The Last Supper. Rather, he wanted to represent the scene portraying Dionysus, the god of wine and festivities, at “a big pagan festival linked to the gods of Olympus.”
In short, the artist wanted to make a reference to pagan gods: “You’ll never find in my work any desire to mock or denigrate anyone. I wanted a ceremony that brings people together, that reconciles, but also a ceremony that affirms our Republican values of liberty, equality and fraternity.”
The Last Supper. This painting is a Renaissance masterpiece that portrays the biblical scene of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, just before his arrest and crucifixion. The artwork is notable for its detailed composition and innovative use of perspective, which creates a sense of depth and realism.
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci.
In the painting, each apostle exhibits genuine human reactions to Jesus’ announcement that one of them would betray him, capturing the emotional complexity of the moment. The work is not only a religious depiction but also a study of human interaction and betrayal.
Le Festin des Dieux. This is a Baroque painting depicting the gods of classical mythology enjoying a lavish banquet. The work symbolizes hedonism and opulence, showing the deities in a moment of celebration and excess.
In the painting, through his detailed composition and use of vibrant colors, Van Bijlert captures the essence of pleasure and divine abundance. Like other works of the same period, it can also be interpreted as a reflection on human frailty in the face of earthly pleasures, highlighting the tension between the divine and human worlds.
Woke and anti-woke. In a way, the controversy surrounding the moving painting scene at the Olympics reflects the times we live in. Apart from the absurdity of such a controversy in the year of 2024, the debate reflects the how insistent both sides are in raising their voices over possible slights. It seems that the “woke era” is coming to an end as brands and companies seem to be disassociating themselves from pro-diversity messages. Meanwhile, with the possible return of Trump and all that entails, the opposite of diversity seems to be amplified.
Companies like Microsoft, John Deere, and even Google seem to be conveying the same message. In fact, advertising itself also seems to be moving away from wokeism. Perhaps, diversity is starting to lose importance, at least from a marketing perspective.
It’s also possible that advertising is just following the market without leading anything at all, and not the other way around.
This article was written by Miguel Jorge and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.
Image | Paris 2024 Olympics | Leonardo Da Vinci
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