weirdfact:Me: HmmMe: Wonder if that’s true?Wikipedia: Le génie du mal (installed 1848) or The Genius

weirdfact:Me: HmmMe: Wonder if that’s true?Wikipedia: Le génie du mal (installed 1848) or The Genius of Evil or the genie of evil or the spirit of evil, known informally in English as Lucifer or The Lucifer of Liège, is a religious sculpture executed in white marble by the Belgian artist Guillaume Geefs. Francophone art historians most often refer to the figure as an ange déchu, a “fallen angel”. It is located within the elaborate pulpit (French chaire de vérité, “seat of truth”) of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Liège, and depicts a classically beautiful man in his physical prime, chained, seated, and nearly nude but for drapery gathered over his thighs, his full length ensconced within a mandorla of bat wings. Geefs’ work replaces an earlier sculpture created for the space by his younger brother Joseph Geefs, L'ange du mal, which was removed from the cathedral because of its distracting allure and “unhealthy beauty”.Me: Welp.Statue one: Other than the [bat] wings, the fallen angel of Joseph Geefs takes a completely human form, made manifest by its artistic near-nudity. A languid scarf skims the groin, the hips are bared, and the open thighs form an avenue that leads to shadow. The serpentine curve of waist and hip is given compositional play in relation to the wing-arcs. The torso is fit but youthful; smooth and graceful, almost androgynous. The angel’s expression has been described as “serious, somber, even fierce," and the cast-down gaze directs the viewer’s eye along the body and thighs to the parted knees. The most obvious satanic element in addition to the wings is the snake uncoiling across the base of the rock. L'ange du mal has been called "one of the most disturbing works of its time." Him sexay boiStatue two: Without a statement from the artist, it can only be surmised that Guillaume Geefs sought to address specific criticisms leveled at his brother Joseph’s work. Guillaume’s génie shows less flesh, and is marked more strongly by satanic iconography as neither human nor angelic. Whether Guillaume succeeded in removing the "seductive” elements may be a matter of individual perception.Guillaume shifts the direction of the fallen angel’s gaze so that it leads away from the body, and his Lucifer’s knees are drawn together protectively. The drapery hangs from behind the right shoulder, pools on the right side, and undulates thickly over the thighs, concealing the hips, not quite covering the navel. At the same time, the flesh that remains exposed is resolutely modeled, particularly in the upper arms, pectorals, and calves, to reveal a more defined, muscled masculinity. The uplifted right arm allows the artist to explore the patterned tensions of the serratus anterior muscles, and the gesture and the angle of the head suggest that the génie is warding off “divine chastisement”.So what I’m getting out of this is that the first angel was too feminine and made men uncomfortable because they found it so attractive. Also he wasn’t covering his junk with enough emphasis. -- source link

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