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CURRENTLY IN CULTURE
The blasphemy of Mrs. Butterworth

R. Jonathan Moore

When Jesus and His disciples gathered for the Last Supper, were flapjacks on the menu? Probably not, but the uninitiated might wonder after viewing a new art exhibit in Chicago. There, visitors were treated to an artist’s re-imagination of “The Last Supper”, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting. In this version, entitled “The Last Pancake Breakfast”, Mrs. Butterworth occupies the place of Jesus. Disciples alongside her include Aunt Jemima, Toucan Sam, Tony the Tiger and Cap’n Crunch. The only religion in sight comes in the form of the white-haired Quaker Oats man.

Predictably, some are less than pleased with this seemingly irreverent version of one of Christianity’s most sacred events. Gallery employees logged over 100 phone calls against the display. The protesters included several Catholics, who submitted a petition that implored: “Please remove this picture from your exhibit. It is ridiculing the Last Supper of our Lord, Jesus Christ!”

The artist, Dick Detzner, claims that the protests have taken him by surprise. “If anything, I would have expected to hear from the companies I’m lampooning,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “What I’m going after is not religion, but advertising.”

Whether or not Detzner is really “going after” religion, protesting Christians would do well to remember that “The Last Supper” was itself a highly stylized interpretation – not a divine photograph – of the event. Da Vinci took his own liberties. Presumably the real Last Supper didn’t have Jesus and His disciples seated, sitcom style, around one side of the table, nor did they likely use eating utensils common in late 15th-century Milan. Da Vinci used local faces for the disciples, and spent so much time wandering among the city’s criminals in search of the perfect Judas that the monastic prior who commissioned the work accused him of laziness. (Da Vinci reportedly explained that he was having trouble finding the right Judas, but if time was really a concern, the prior’s own face would do nicely.) Leonardo’s masterwork, while praiseworthy, should not be mistaken for the actual event.

No doubt protesters are motivated by the sincere conviction that this art unfairly attacks their faith. But so often it seems that those raising objections do little more than call more attention to something they would rather the rest of the world ignore. Instead of having a quiet show at a small location, the artist will now find himself inundated with visitors and media attention. The Catholic League’s protest of a similarly controversial “Last Supper” in New York City –  – a nude female took Jesus’ place in “Yo Mama’s Last Supper” – has generated so much publicity that the artist planned to send the organization a personal thank-you note.

“The Last Pancake Breakfast” is one of the tamest pieces in a collection Detzner has dubbed “Corporate Sacrilege”. Other works have the Pillsbury Doughboy and Ronald McDonald nailed to a cross, Ken and Barbie in the Garden of Eden and the overalls-clad child mascot of Big Boy restaurants receiving “Ten Big Commandments”.

Using religious symbols in this manner may offend, and maybe should offend. But such inflammatory paintings can also spark reflection upon serious issues: the contemporary marketing of religious images, society’s unthinking worship of the market and the powerful grip advertising symbols have upon our minds. Those who can name all 12 disciples in “The Last Supper” are undoubtedly much fewer than those who can name all the advertising icons in “The Last Pancake Breakfast” – doesn’t this cry out for a theological response? Pablo Picasso claimed that “Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.” Even if inadvertently, “The Last Pancake Breakfast” and its companions may be pointing religious people toward an uncomfortable truth.

R. Jonathan Moore is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago Divinity School. This article was distributed as a Sightings Column by the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

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Last modified March 14, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
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