The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics was very interesting, boldly departing from the stadium-held productions of every preceding games. Using the Seine as both the means and a backdrop, and interposing various media 'events' at a variety of famous locations nearby, the ceremony succeeded in being as eccentric and eclectic as it was very very long.

The latter is my one criticism. A good editor might have snipped some of the to and froing up and down the great river, were it possible to do so on location beforehand. I enjoyed the singing and dancing at fringe locations on the Seine, the pianist playing in the rain upon one the bridges, the oddity of some of the choices, which combined high art with sheer schmaltz.

The controversy of the Last Supper piece (which is disputed, see below) which I didn't recognise at the time, may be a little overstated but is certainly understandable. Sure, it was foolish and in poor taste to parody a sacred Christian event and the addition of drag queens (why on earth do they exist?) was inflammatory. But the Lord can take care of any insults, if they were intended, and an apology has been offered. Surely there are more creative ways of celebrating works in the vast collection at the Louvre. Consider the sheer volume of painterly or sculptural themes if you will.

This was one blot on an otherwise fine opening event. I wonder how the closing will go? Meanwhile, to the Games!

ps. I am aware that the painting 'The Feast of the Gods' by Dutch painter Jan van Bijlert (completed two centuries after da Vinci's Last Supper, is a good match for the ghastly tableau alluded to above. But Bijlert spent four years in Italy and would undoubtedly have seen da Vinci's masterpiece in Milan. So there is still a likely derivative quality to it that could not have been lost of the organisers, though it does give them c    over.