Paris Olympics organizers insist opening ceremony was not a recreation of The Last Supper

During the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics , religious conservatives went into a tizzy as they believed a certain performance during it was mocking Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper.

On Friday, a portion of the ceremony portrayed DJ and producer Barbara Butch, an LGBTQ+ icon , danced across the Debilly Bridge over the Seine River with drag artists and dancers surrounding her. Wearing a halo-like headdress Barbara was seen at the center of a table with others around her, similar to the layout of da Vinci's famous painting.

While many people around the world were angered as they thought the display was emulating Jesus' last meal with his apostles, the actual painting the performance represented depicted Ancient Greek gods. The organizers behind the Olympic opening ceremony apologized for the confusion but stood by their decision.

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The 17th-century painting, "The Feast of the Gods," by Dutch painter Jan Harmensz van Biljert. It hangs in the Magin Museum in Dijon, France - which makes a lot more sense to portray than The Last Supper which is housed in Milan, Italy.

Thomas Jolly, the director of the opening ceremony, told France's BFMTV that The Feast of the Gods inspired the scene, especially the Greek god Dionysus portrayed in it. "Dionysus arrives at the table because he is the Greek God of celebration," Thomas said, as the sequence in the ceremony was titled "festivity."

"The idea was to create a big pagan party in link with the God of Mount Olympus — and you will never find in me, or in my work, any desire of mocking anyone," he continued. The official social media account of the Olympic Games also shared a statement on X, formally known as Twitter.

It read: "The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings." But even with the explanations, various conservatives around the world slammed the performance.

French far-right politician Marion Maréchal wrote on social media: "To all the Christians of 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."

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