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(New York-AP, March 30, 2007) - The Easter season unveiling of a milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ has left a sour taste for a Catholic group angered by the nude confection.
Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League, said "it's not just the ugliness of the portrayal, but the timing - to choose Holy Week is astounding."
The 6 foot sculpture by artist Cosimo Cavallaro is titled "My Sweet Lord."
It debuts Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Roman Catholics mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit at the Lab Gallery inside midtown Manhattan's Roger Smith Hotel is planned for Easter Sunday.
The gallery's creative director, Matt Semler, said the Lab and the hotel were overrun with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. He called Donohue's response "a Catholic fatwa."
Semler said he's surprised by the offense people have taken. He added that the Holy Week timing is an unfortunate coincidence. The artwork was made from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate, and it features Christ with his arms outstretched as if on an invisible cross. Unlike the typical religious portrayal of Christ, it does not include a loincloth.
(New York-AP, March 30, 2007) - The Easter season unveiling of a milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ has left a sour taste for a Catholic group angered by the nude confection.
Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League, said "it's not just the ugliness of the portrayal, but the timing - to choose Holy Week is astounding."
The 6 foot sculpture by artist Cosimo Cavallaro is titled "My Sweet Lord."
It debuts Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Roman Catholics mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit at the Lab Gallery inside midtown Manhattan's Roger Smith Hotel is planned for Easter Sunday.
The gallery's creative director, Matt Semler, said the Lab and the hotel were overrun with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. He called Donohue's response "a Catholic fatwa."
Semler said he's surprised by the offense people have taken. He added that the Holy Week timing is an unfortunate coincidence. The artwork was made from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate, and it features Christ with his arms outstretched as if on an invisible cross. Unlike the typical religious portrayal of Christ, it does not include a loincloth.
