Fear of Clowns

Here is an ad parodying Da Vinci's Last Supper, linked to a larger version of the same,

Here is a reproduction, linked to a Sixteenth Century reproduction that is today in better condition that the original, linked to a larger version of a Sixteenth Century reproduction that has better weathered time,

I have previously noted the ad has been censored in France and Italy - now the French ban has been upheld by a higher court.

I suggest the ad is great art in itself. I promised in that previous post to later explain why I believe so; the reason I didn't note my observations about the ad immediately is that the art itself is in an individual's realizations of the differences between the original and the parody - along side the change in women's roles in society across several centuries,

• In addition to the obvious observation that the figures are female and not male, the three figures nearest the "John" figure are the only ones not posed as the figures in the original version: the "John" figure has recently been alleged to be originally intended to represent not John but Mary Magdalene. This "Mary" is the only male in the photos. This observation is the only one I've seen mentioned in media articles.
• The male figure is posed as the Roman archetypical female Venus - as depicted in the famous and now armless sculpture Venus di Milo - he is on a pedestal below the "table" and if you find a picture of the rear of the statue, you will see that her butt crack is exposed precisely the same amount as the male in the photo which at first seems to be a guy with contemporary "offensive" low riding pants. Picture below.
• The woman facing the camera with her arm around Venus is posed as the figure in Rembrandt's "Portrait of Nicolaas van Bambeecka"
• There is a hand with a dove under the right side of the table. The dove is one of the symbols associated with the Greek archetypical female, Aphrodite - as well as Christ.
• The legs under the table have little to do with the torsos above. They are random legs sticking out more or less underneath depicted torsos. I mean, look at it.

Here are a few more parodies of da Vinci's famous painting.

// posted by Erik @ 4/09/2005 04:36:00 AM
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