Blasphemy?

On Thursday 11 March, French fashion designers Marithé + François Girbaud were convicted of insulting catholics by a Parisian court for an advertisement depicting a setting vaguely reminiscent to a famous 15th century painting in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan by Leonardo da Vinci, a guy now better known for some code invented by writer Dan Brown than for his paintings.

Besides the question if this advertisement is bad taste, it is foremost a reference to or a parody on a work of art, which had lukewarm reception when it was created. Contrary to what ignoramus Brown writes, The Last Supper is definitely not a fresco. Da Vinci, always looking for inventions and innovations, tried a new technique. Da Vinci experimented with a new style, tempera and oil on a dry wall. But this experiment was a disaster. Not very long after its completion, the work started to disintegrate.

The French judgment is ridiculous. Besides the fact that the photograph is very stylish, the verdict is contradictory with one of the pillars of the French Republic, the ‘laicité’, or the strict separation between church and state. The problem with blasphemy is that it only exists when you are religious. To be blasphemous one must belief in or acknowledges some kind of deity. There is no interest in insulting something or someone if it doesn’t exist. The French Court as well as the French State are explicitly non-religious. So how can they convict something that does not exist? This ruling is a very dangerous one. The Girbauds will appeal. To be continued.