By FLAVIO AGUIAR*
Critics of one of the paintings presented in the inaugural parade of the Olympics demonstrated that they were unable to “read” either Da Vinci's painting or the parade's scenic painting.
Following the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris, we had the opportunity to witness a true festival of fanaticism, confusing intolerance and also diffuse ignorance.
One of the paintings featured in the inaugural parade provoked a furious barrage of criticism, alleging that it offended Christian sentiments by parodying the painting. The last supper, by Leonardo da Vinci.
Criticism came from various sources, from various angles, and from at least two continents: Europe and America, all concerned with protecting religious faith against the supposed sacrilegious impiety of the organizers and actors of the Olympic feast.
The speeches included conservative bishops and archbishops of the Catholic Church, politicians from the French, Italian and Brazilian extreme right and even the candidate for the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News.
A curious detail: in the interview, Donald Trump does not mention the Olympic picture. The journalist who asks the questions does this. He limits himself to commenting: “a disaster”, “a disgrace”, etc. This detail suggests that the journalist is anxious to induce the comment, which, in a way, disqualifies the interviewer, the interview and the interviewee's opinion...
Critics suggested that, by parodying the famous painting, the parade sacrilegiously insulted the biblical event it represents, the narrative of Jesus Christ's last supper with the apostles, just before the crucifixion.
Just counter-commenting: so much ignorance combined…
Firstly, the critics demonstrated that they did not know how to “read” either Da Vinci's painting or the parade's scenic painting.
There are substantive differences between them. To begin with, in Da Vinci's painting there are thirteen extras, including Christ. In the Olympic picture there is a much larger number of characters, at least 17 in the foreground alone. In this, if in the center of the table there is a character with a kind of silver halo around his head, who actually presides over the scene, in the very foreground, is a representation of the god of wine – the Greek Dionysus or the Roman Bacchus – whose body is covered in a blue color, something completely foreign to Da Vinci's painting.
In this painting, Christ himself presides over the scene, whose body, with open and fallen arms, represents a triangle – an allegorical image of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It should also be taken into account that Da Vinci focuses on a specific moment of the Last Supper, the one in which Jesus announces that one of the apostles will betray him. It is therefore an extraordinarily dramatic moment in the event.
None of this appears in the Parisian representation. It does not represent a supper, but a pleasant and joyful banquet. There is no betrayal in it. On the contrary, there is celebration and gathering. There is a single common element between both artistic manifestations: wine. But in Da Vinci, following the focused moment, it will represent the blood of Christ himself. In the parade, he is neither consecrated nor sanctified, but is presented by the god Dionysus as a symbol of intoxicating pleasure.
In short, if there is an artistic reference behind the parade, it is not the Last Supper, but the painting The Feast of the Gods, by the Dutch painter Jan van Bijlert, from the 17th century, now in the Magnin Museum, in Dijon, France. It represents the wedding banquet of the nymph or nereid Thetis with King Peleus, parents of the warrior Achilles, from the poem The Iliad, by Homer. The banquet is presided over by the god Apollo, or Helios, with a luminous halo around his head, and has, in the foreground, the god Dionysus, or Bacchus, as well as a dancing satyr.
Let's face it: this painting has more to do with the ancient Greek tradition, founder of the classical Olympic games that inspired the modern ones, than Da Vinci's painting. However, the religious fanaticism of far-right critics also grounds their prejudiced ignorance, proving that they understand nothing about the history of art, nor the Olympic games, much less biblical tradition.
Last but not least, it should be noted that the critics' fury was fueled by the fact that the actors in the representation, at the opening of the games, were personalities from the French LGBTQIA+ scene, which adds to their indigestible cake the yeast of homophobic prejudice and sexist.
* Flavio Aguiar, journalist and writer, is a retired professor of Brazilian literature at USP. Author, among other books, of Chronicles of the World Upside Down (boitempo). [https://amzn.to/48UDikx]
Originally published on the website of Radio France International (Radio-Web Agency).
the earth is round there is thanks to our readers and supporters.
Help us keep this idea going.
CONTRIBUTE
