REEL BITES
TIMESONLINE
March 12, 2005
Last Supper advert is in the final straw
From Adam Sage in Paris
A ban on the parody of the Leonardo painting has been denounced as censorship
Supermodels have fallen foul of France's blasphemy laws with an advertising campaign that parodies Leonardo Da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper.
A judge ordered the advertising posters to be removed yesterday from billboards acorss France within 3 days or to risk a daily fine of E100,000.
The ruling by the Paris court stunned the Parisian media and fashion establishment, which denounced it as an act of censorship contrary to France's liberal traditions.
The advertising campaign for the Girbaud fashion house shows designer-clad women in the pose of the apostles and a half-naked man as Jesus Christ. Girbaud said it would appeal against the ruling.
The campaign, which was also banned by magistrates in Milan in February, was described as offensive to Catholics by the presiding judge, Jean-Claude Magendie.
He upheld the case brought by Beliefs and Liberties, an association set up by French bishops, who were particularly upset that the advertisemt shows a shirtless man to the right of the models representing Jesus in the arms of one of the female 'apostles'.
This appears to be an oblique reference to claims that effeminate-looking apostle seated Jesus' right in Da Vinci work was his follower, Mary Magdalene, and not John, as it is usally stated.
These claims were renewed by the American author Dan Brown, who suggested in his bestselling book, The Da Vinci Code, that the Church had conspired to hide Jesus' marriage to Mary Magdalene.
Thierry Massis, the bishops' lawyer, said: "When you attack sacred things, you create a moral violence that is dangerous for our children. Tomorrow we'll have Christ selling socks." But Bernard Cohen, acting for Girbaud, said: "The work is a photograph based on a painting, not the bible. There is nothing in it that is offensive to the Catholic religion. It is a way of showing the place of women in society today."
The Girbaud advertisement is the latest in a long line of controversial reworkings of Leonardo's painting, from Bunuel's film Virridiana to more recent satires by the television shows Spitting Image and Shameless on Channel 4, to the late comedian Malcolm Hardee.
Liberation, the left-wing newspaper that is a pillar of liberal classes that dominate such of Parisian society, expressed indignation.
It said that French bishops were increasingly active against what they saw as offensive advertisements.
In recent year Bishops have taken legal action over a poster for the film, Amen, which showed a Christian cross that merged into Nazi swastikas, and over an advertising campaign for Volkswagen, which showed Jesus saying: "Rejoice, for a new Golf is born." Both cases were settled out of court.
What is wrong with those lame old French bishops? its just an advert, and seriously i think its a good peice of work. i saw it somewhere in the magazine the other time. and it was really nice. it was creative, bold and daring. seriously, they shouldn't have taken it that personally. its all for humour and entertainment.
those old fogeys. im trying to get my hand on that ad, cos its really nice. its a little like that adidas ad. almost similar just that there's a table with the models all half-squatting. it was really nice. if i were the artist i would have fought for the rights for my art peice.
anyone who saw the ad would have laughed it off. it was funny, how the artist could have brought in also those ludicrus (however you spell it) facts that Dan Brown came up with. if the ad was offensive, WHY DON'T THOSE OLD FOGEYS SUE DAN BROWN INSTEAD AND HAVE HIS BOOKS STRIPPED OFF THE SHELVES AND COUNTERS OF BOOKSTORES.
everyone has different interpretation of different things. and Dan Brown probably came up with weird stuff about Da Vinci's painting only to complicate matters.
The truth is that simple - beyond how the human mind could comprehend.
TIMESONLINE
March 12, 2005
Last Supper advert is in the final straw
From Adam Sage in Paris
A ban on the parody of the Leonardo painting has been denounced as censorship
Supermodels have fallen foul of France's blasphemy laws with an advertising campaign that parodies Leonardo Da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper.
A judge ordered the advertising posters to be removed yesterday from billboards acorss France within 3 days or to risk a daily fine of E100,000.
The ruling by the Paris court stunned the Parisian media and fashion establishment, which denounced it as an act of censorship contrary to France's liberal traditions.
The advertising campaign for the Girbaud fashion house shows designer-clad women in the pose of the apostles and a half-naked man as Jesus Christ. Girbaud said it would appeal against the ruling.
The campaign, which was also banned by magistrates in Milan in February, was described as offensive to Catholics by the presiding judge, Jean-Claude Magendie.
He upheld the case brought by Beliefs and Liberties, an association set up by French bishops, who were particularly upset that the advertisemt shows a shirtless man to the right of the models representing Jesus in the arms of one of the female 'apostles'.
This appears to be an oblique reference to claims that effeminate-looking apostle seated Jesus' right in Da Vinci work was his follower, Mary Magdalene, and not John, as it is usally stated.
These claims were renewed by the American author Dan Brown, who suggested in his bestselling book, The Da Vinci Code, that the Church had conspired to hide Jesus' marriage to Mary Magdalene.
Thierry Massis, the bishops' lawyer, said: "When you attack sacred things, you create a moral violence that is dangerous for our children. Tomorrow we'll have Christ selling socks." But Bernard Cohen, acting for Girbaud, said: "The work is a photograph based on a painting, not the bible. There is nothing in it that is offensive to the Catholic religion. It is a way of showing the place of women in society today."
The Girbaud advertisement is the latest in a long line of controversial reworkings of Leonardo's painting, from Bunuel's film Virridiana to more recent satires by the television shows Spitting Image and Shameless on Channel 4, to the late comedian Malcolm Hardee.
Liberation, the left-wing newspaper that is a pillar of liberal classes that dominate such of Parisian society, expressed indignation.
It said that French bishops were increasingly active against what they saw as offensive advertisements.
In recent year Bishops have taken legal action over a poster for the film, Amen, which showed a Christian cross that merged into Nazi swastikas, and over an advertising campaign for Volkswagen, which showed Jesus saying: "Rejoice, for a new Golf is born." Both cases were settled out of court.
What is wrong with those lame old French bishops? its just an advert, and seriously i think its a good peice of work. i saw it somewhere in the magazine the other time. and it was really nice. it was creative, bold and daring. seriously, they shouldn't have taken it that personally. its all for humour and entertainment.
those old fogeys. im trying to get my hand on that ad, cos its really nice. its a little like that adidas ad. almost similar just that there's a table with the models all half-squatting. it was really nice. if i were the artist i would have fought for the rights for my art peice.
anyone who saw the ad would have laughed it off. it was funny, how the artist could have brought in also those ludicrus (however you spell it) facts that Dan Brown came up with. if the ad was offensive, WHY DON'T THOSE OLD FOGEYS SUE DAN BROWN INSTEAD AND HAVE HIS BOOKS STRIPPED OFF THE SHELVES AND COUNTERS OF BOOKSTORES.
everyone has different interpretation of different things. and Dan Brown probably came up with weird stuff about Da Vinci's painting only to complicate matters.
The truth is that simple - beyond how the human mind could comprehend.
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