Conservatives angered by the Paris Olympics might need to pivot their criticism of Friday’s opening ceremony.
Some were incensed over a vignette that appeared to resemble a drag-infused interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, a 15th century painting depicting Jesus Christ and his 12 disciples at a fateful final meal.
But the tableau, which was slammed as “blasphemous” by many in the American right-wing, was actually a reference to something completely different, according to Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony.
Jolly clarified his vision during an appearance Sunday on French media, explaining that the scene was a tribute to Dionysus, the Greek god of decadence and celebration.
“There is Dionysus who arrives on this table,” Jolly told French television outlet BFMTV of the scantily clad blue figure at the centre of the tableau, according to an interpretation by NBC News. “He is there because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology.”
“The idea was to have a pagan celebration connected to the gods of Olympus,” he said. “You will never find in me a desire to mock and denigrate anyone.”
Jolly drew support in a post on the Games’ official account on X (formerly Twitter), which said: “The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”
Despite the scene having nothing to do with The Last Supper masterpiece or Christianity, Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps apologised Sunday at a news conference “if people have taken any offence” from the performance.
After the four-hour Olympics opener aired Friday, more than a few high-profile American conservatives publicly railed against the spectacle.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Republican, Louisana) said the Dionysus segment made a “mockery” of his Christian faith, and Donald Trump Jr., called Paris’ opening ceremony a “seemingly satanic” attempt to push “woke ideology.”