So evangelical Christians have gotten their knickers in a twist again, this time over an Olympic Pride event that had some resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper. Here are the two images:
While I can definitely see some resemblance, when you look more closely you see that most of the similarity is simply "a bunch of people on one side of a table" and a central figure with a "halo effect" (achieved naturalisticly with a bright window in the Da Vinci version). "People at a table" is not enough to claim copying, even if the host is in the same place at the table. If any of the figures in the Olympic Tableau were imitating the corresponding figure in Da Vinci, there would be grounds, but they aren't.
The more I thought about this whole thing, the more bothered I became. I have a limit for blasphemy. The sacred is deserving of respect. But I just could not see that the Olympic Tableau had any intent of parodying the painting. But I was still really bothered.
Look at the two images. In the Olympic pic, they're having a great time. In the painting, Jesus has just told his disciples that one of them will betray him. Shock, outrage, and despair is written on the disciples' faces--you can see the fear in Judas's face as he recoils (in the white on our left). If the Olympic Tableau is referencing Da Vinci, which one is Judas? The little girl in yellow? Look at the painting. You can just about hear their voices. You can see the different reactions--this one is in denial, this one is arguing, this one totally didn't see it coming, this one maybe hit the wine too hard and is still trying to understand what's happening.
If you really appreciate this painting, you see it's nothing like the Olympic Tableau. And if you don't appreciate the painting, then you have no grounds to object to its treatment.
Then I realized why I was so bothered by this whole thing. Da Vinci's The Last Supper is a brilliant work of sacred art, depicting one of the most important moments in the Passion narrative. People who don't care about it are using it as a weapon in culture wars. That, my friends, is blasphemy.
So knock it off!
3 comments:
This was not the Last Supper, which is in Milan. It is meant to be a tableau of a painting in the Louvre of a Bachannalian feast! Untwist the knickers!!!
BTW, blogger cropped the images, which is annoying, but I couldn't figure out how to prevent it.
Yes, the Olympic Tableau is meant to be the Bacchanalian feast. The critique is that it "looks like" the Last Supper, so whatever they "meant" to do, it was offensive. My point is that is doesn't actually look like the Last Supper.
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