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A CATHOLIC poster of Jesus Christ has been slammed by conservative Spaniards for being overly sexualised and erotic.
The poster envisions Christ after his resurrection, marked against a bright-red background, standing almost completely naked – if it weren’t for a modest loin cloth draped over his genitals.
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The poster was unveiled earlier this week to symbolise “the radiant side of Holy Week,” according to Seville’s Council of Brotherhoods and Guilds.
But it faced immediate backlash from Sevillian Catholics.
A survey found that 87 per cent of Spaniards in the region find the Holy Week poster too “sexualised” to be part of their festivities.
The conservative Catholic group Instituto de Política Social (IPSE) took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to condemn the artwork.
They said: “This poster is an aberration, it breaks with the true meaning of #SemanaSanta and the artist has done it on purpose.
“Our response is very clear: The #SSantaSevilla24 poster is a real disgrace.”
The group went on to call the poster “sexualised”, “effeminate” and “camp”. They have demanded the immediate removal of the poster, and for a public apology to be issued.
Members of the conservative party Vox have also waded into the chorus of criticism against the poster.
In a statement posted to X, Vox member Javier Navarro claimed that the poster was intentionally created to provoke.
He said: “It is not a question of artistic tastes, it is a question of which the poster fulfills the end for which it is destined.
“It is evident that this poster was looking to provoke and the Council has allowed it.”
Some 13,000 Sevillians have since signed an online petition pleading for its removal.
Artist Salustiano Garcia, who created the poster, told Spanish newspaper ABC that his artwork was “kind, gentle and beautiful”.
He insisted: “There is nothing in my painting that is not already represented in works of art from many centuries ago.
“I think the people who have spoken badly about my work. or who has seen sexuality in it, needs a little artistic culture.
“To see sexuality in my image of Christ, you must be mad.”
Garcia went on to say that the art was created with nothing but respect, and modelled on the body of his own son, Horacio.
Garcia said that he found a sense of serenity and spirituality in his son that was needed for the painting, describing him as “a classic Christ full of serenity and sweetness”.
He added that his Christ was intended to be “young, as a metaphor for purity, and beautiful, because beauty and goodness are the same thing, as Plato said.”
Juan Espadas, from the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, has also come out in defence of the artwork.
The politician denounced the “expressions of homophobia and hatred” that have been directed at the poster – suggesting instead that it combined Seville’s “tradition and modernity”.
Holy Week festivities are of the utmost importance across Spain, and especially in Seville – which has a predominantly Catholic population.
The celebrations recall the death and resurrection of Christ, and has been a deeply revered event in the country since the 14th Century.
This is not the first time that depictions of Jesus Christ have caused outrage.
In 2019, a sculpture called McJesus – a crucified Ronald McDonald – led to hundreds of people demonstrating outside a museum in northern Israel.
Some protestors threw rocks at police and others attempted to firebomb the building.
In the same year, a Netflix comedy starring a homosexual Jesus accumulated over two million complaints.
The First Temptation of Christ caused immediate uproar among viewers, and a wealth of people demanding it be removed from the streaming site.
At the time, creators Porta dos Fundos released a statement saying: “We value artistic freedom and humor through satire on the most diverse cultural themes of our society and believes that freedom of expression is an essential construction for a democratic country.”
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