Tuesday, July 30, 2024

A Bacchanalian Mirage

Associated Press - Paris Olympics organizers apologized to anyone who was offended by a tableau that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s 'The Last Supper' during the glamorous opening ceremony, but defended the concept behind it Sunday.

Da Vinci’s painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The scene during Friday’s ceremony featured the DJ flanked by drag artists and dancers.

I thought the same, but then realized the line-up on the bridge serving as a runway for the preceding fashion show had closed ranks around Barbara Butch, an LGBTQ+ icon, whose was wearing a halo crown. I clocked the Last Supper and rejoiced the blasphemy, until I thought that Da Vinci's The Last Supper was in Milan and had nothing to do with Paris or France, although Da Vinci spent his last three years in The Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise, Loire Valley under the patronage of King Francis I.

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death." Leonardo da Vinci.

The illusion shattered with the lifting on a huge lid to reveal French singer and actor Philippe Katerine as a blue Dionysus surrounded by fruit on a dinner plate. THe ancient god – known to the Romans as Bacchus – has a close tie to France: In Greek mythology, he is the father of Sequana, the Goddess of the River Seine according to USA Today.

This last slice of mythology was unknown to me, but I thought, "Genius."

Then again I am a non-believer.

ps no video of this event is available due to a ban on Youtube.

Que scandalle

A bas a le troiseme estate.

All life is illusion.

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