At the centre was a woman wearing a headdress that resembled a crown, while holding her hands out in a heart shape. She was flanked by drag performers, and other artists who danced alongside her.
At the end of the scene, a serving tray was placed on the stage and a scantily clad man, who was painted blue, emerged from inside.
The Olympics said the performance was an “interpretation of the Greek God [of winemaking and festivity] Dionysus” to make “us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings”.
‘A left-wing minority’
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Marechal insisted the scene was a “parody of the Last Supper” a dinner outlined in the Gospels in which Jesus says one of the Apostles will betray him.
She said: “To all the Christians of the world who are watching the #Paris2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation”.
Marechal is the granddaughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the National Front founder, and niece of Marine Le Pen.
She was elected to the European Parliament as the head of the Reconquete Party on June 9. Three days later, she was expelled from the party for calling on French citizens to vote for National Rally candidates in the 2024 legislative election.
She has since joined the European Conservatives and Reformists parliamentary group.
Elon Musk, the Tesla, X, and Space X owner, also criticised the parody which he described as being “extremely offensive to Christians”.
Responding to the depiction of Dionysus, Musk said: “Why is this at the Olympics? I’m moving to Mars.”
Daniel French, vicar of Salcombe and Marlborough in England, also criticised the performance.
He said: “The opening Olympic ceremony mocked Christianity and the Last Supper in a way it never would have for any other religion”.
He called on the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to echo comments made by a bishop in the United States, Robert Barron.
Barron, who runs the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in southern Minnesota, described the performance as a “gross mockery” of Catholicism.
Spectacular finale
The four-hour opening ceremony was unlike any other in the 128 years of the modern Olympics.
In pouring rain, a flotilla of 85 barges carried 6800 athletes 3.5km down the Seine before a spectacular finale featuring an animatronic silver horse galloping along the waterway towards the Trocadero.
Celine Dion closed the show with a rendition of Edith Piaf’s Hymne a l’amour from high in the Eiffel Tower. It was the French-Canadian superstar’s first concert appearance since her diagnosis in 2022 with stiff-person syndrome.
A spokesman for the Paris Olympics said: “Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief. On the contrary, each of the tableaux in the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony were intended to celebrate community and tolerance.”
They added it was not the first time artists had taken “inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting”, adding: “From Andy Warhol to the Simpsons, many have done it before”.
