A Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony scene reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” continued to stir controversy Sunday as Paris 2024 producers and the ceremony’s designer Thomas Jolly released separate, apparently opposing statements on where it drew its inspiration.
The scene in question featured a line of drag performers posing shoulder-to-shoulder on a Parisian bridge before turning the bridge into a fashion-forward catwalk. Later, those same queens celebrated over a meal where the dish was revealed to be a nearly nude man painted blue.
Many, including Jolly and the official Olympics Games X account, said that the scene is an “interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus” that “makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”
Others, including a statement from Paris 2024 producers obtained by TheWrap Sunday, said that it was in fact inspired by Da Vinci’s famous painting — a skewing of the religious imagery that has been slammed by the Christian right as a mockery of Jesus Christ.
“For the ‘Festivities’ segment, Thomas Jolly took inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting to create the setting,” producers said in the statement. “Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief … [Jolly] is not the first artist to make a reference to what is a world-famous work of art. From Andy Warhol to ‘The Simpsons,’ many have done it before him.”
The scene caused a disturbance on social media, where conservative political leaders from around the world blasted the display as blasphemous. Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X, “Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.”
“The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today,” he added. “But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail. ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ (John 1:5).”
Meanwhile on Friday night, the official Olympics Games X account shared photos from the portion of the program featuring the blue man at the tableau’s center and explained, “The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”
Then, in a Sunday interview with French broadcaster BFMTV, Jolly admitted he “wanted to be very theatrical.” He also provided apparently contradictory context to the statement given by Paris 2024 producers that same day.
“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,’” Jolly said, translated to English. “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.”
The ceremony was designed by Jolly, the French actor and director who was appointed artistic director of ceremonies in 2022. “For Paris 2024, appointing Thomas Jolly as artistic director of the ceremonies is an ambitious choice that is consistent with our vision. With his impressive career, Thomas Jolly is at the forefront of the young, creative and ambitious French artistic scene,” explained Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024, at the time.
“His extraordinary shows are proof that he knows how to break norms and take them to the next level. Thomas Jolly will be able to imagine unprecedented artistic concepts for the Paris 2024 ceremonies, whether in the heart of Paris, on the Seine for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, on the Place de la Concorde, which is being considered for the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games, or at the Stade de France for the two closing ceremonies of these historic Games in France,” Estanguet’s statement concluded.
Editors note: This post has been updated to reflect Jolly’s Sunday comments.
