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You Sexy Devil
The sculpture that was Too Hot For Church…
Visit St. Paul’s Cathedral in the city of Liège, Belgium and you’ll find a sculpture that could potentially inspire some less than pious thoughts.
Called the The Lucifer of Liège or Le génie du mal (The Spirit of Evil) the white- marble creation depicts a near-naked and exquisitely buff Lucifer sitting chained to a plinth, encased in the large folded wings of his kind. His carved hair is lush, his tortured features classically handsome. The crown he holds and his broken sceptre denote his status as a ‘fallen angel’, while a tear slides from his left eye.
Although he’s now over 170 years old, this Lucifer proves that the ideals of masculine beauty have remained remarkably consistent over the years.
But, although Hot Satan is pretty sizzling, this sculpture is actually considered the more PG version of an earlier original sculpture, which was removed after being deemed ‘too hot for church’.
The intriguing story behind this easy-on-the-eyes Satan includes an interesting family connection.
Jozef Geefs was a Belgian sculptor from a family of six brothers, all sculptors.
In 1838 his brother Guilluame was commissioned to design an elaborate pulpit at Liège’s St. Pauls. The design included a twin staircase, and the statue was to be installed at the base, where the two staircases met. Jozef was given the commission for the statue, which he completed in 1842.
The installation of the statue the following year generated almost instantaneous scandal.
Clad in brief and only-just-decent draping, with an emphasis on the beauty of human flesh, rather than the satanic symbolism associated with the fall of an arch-angel, the statue was accused of causing ‘impure thoughts’ in the congregation’s young female population and having seen photos, I can say that the clergy’s accusations were in all likelihood quite correct. Satan is depicted as a well-muscled and serene youth, too handsome and tranquil in his iniquity to be a cautionary tale of the tortured consequences of sin. The church administration…
