In news that has caused the manufacturers of scare quotes to work overtime, there has been "alarm" about what has been claimed to be a parody of the "Last Supper".
The tableau that has caused alarm is from a work by the Oxford mathematician, C L Dodgson, whose cover name is "Lewis Carrol". Although the art itself is by his collaborator, "Sir" John Tenniel.
"I think this is clearly a disgraceful representation of the "Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci", said Matthias Victim-Complexe, of the First Church of Cultural Stereotypes. "The dormouse is meant to stand for St John, who is not merely "reclining" but actually falling asleep. The insults include the tea pot representing the Holy Grail. And obviously Alice, pointing vengefully across the table, is Judas.
"To further the insult to a Renaissance work of art - I mean God - two of the characters at the table are traditionally referred to as "mad". And the tag on the Hatter's Hat is a mocking of Mark 10:6, "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.""
It was suggested to Revd Victim-Complexe that being offended by a picture's resemblance to another picture meant he thought the original Da Vinci work in fact included an accurate representation of God. He was asked why he didn't think he was in fact guilty of idolatry, the breaking of the Second Commandment*. But at this point the pastor gradually faded away, until only his expression of quiet martyrdom remained.
* Protestant counting
