The sculpture was to have been exhibited over Easter Chocolate Jesus

The life size sculpture, entitled "My Sweet Lord", depicts a naked Jesus with his arms outspread as they would have been during the crucifixion.

The sculpture, by artist Cosimo Cavallaro, was to have been displayed at Manhattan's Lab Gallery.

The Roger Smith Hotel housing the Lab gallery decided to cancel the exhibition after the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights called for a boycott.

Church Group Delighted By Cancellation

"We're delighted with the outcome," said Kiera McCaffrey, spokeswoman for the League.

Ms McCaffrey had called the exhibit "an assault on Christians".

"They would never dare do something similar with a chocolate statue of the Prophet Mohammed naked with his genitals exposed during Ramadan." Ms McCaffrey did not explain why her group was not protesting the millions upon millions of chocolate Christs, crosses and other religious symbols on sale at candy stores across the city, or renderings of Jesus in plastic, fiberglass, or plaster found in Catholic churches across the land.

The Lab gallery's artistic director, Matt Semler, has offered his resignation, saying the decision to cancel the exhibition was a result of "strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show. They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions," he said.

Mr Semler said the timing of the exhibition - when Christians mark the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ - was coincidental.

Canadian-born Mr Cavallaro is known for using food ingredients in his art, on one occasion painting a hotel room in mozzarella cheese.

For more images of Jesus found in pop culture, check out our Jesus Gallery. In this writer's opinion, this Sweet Jesus is only one example of how difficult it is to distinguish genuine religious art from pure kitsch. And their is no group on earth that can decide such questions for us, beauty being, as it largely is, in the eye of the beholder.

For more images of Jesus found in pop culture, check out our Jesus Gallery.

For more videos of Jesus, check out our Jesus Video Gallery.