 The court says Catholic objections to the poster are justified |
A French court has upheld a ban sought by the Catholic Church on a clothing advertisement based on Leonardo da Vinci's painting Christ's Last Supper. The display "insults the religious feeling of Catholics", the Paris appeals court ruled on Friday.
The advertisement for designers Marithe et Francois Girbaud shows a female Christ figure surrounded by women, one of them hugging a semi-naked man.
The French Catholic Church won an injunction against the poster in March.
It has also been banned in the Italian city of Milan.
In its ruling, the appeals court said the campaign had been particularly offensive because it was scheduled to run over Lent and Easter.
The designers say they did not intend to offend anyone with the poster.
The campaign is said to have been inspired by Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code which refers to the 15th Century fresco.
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