AN artist has sparked an Easter controversy by sculpting images of Jesus on the cross entirely out of chocolate.

George Heslop, 47, first created a chocolate crucifix two years ago out.

Now the artist, from Jarrow, South Tyneside, is planning to create a 4ft figure at a gallery in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, on Good Friday.

Ale and Porter Arts have recruited Mr Heslop as their artist-in-residence to work on their chocolate exhibition.

Mr Heslop said his aim was to take one of the world's best-know religious icons and recreate it in a material associated with consumerism.

He said: "My crucifix is simply intended to provoke thought about the psychological and social roots of religion and how it relates to war and our everyday lives.

"It's also about the medium. At Easter, we see chocolate everywhere. There is a chocolate overload and it's all beautifully packaged. The meaning of Easter is overlooked."

Mr Heslop concedes that he is courting controversy during a time of year when Christians remember the death and resurrection of their saviour.

Father Conrad Lowry, of St Thomas More RC Church, in Bradford-on-Avon, said: "To kids it will be fun, but the crucifixion of Christ was anything but fun. It is one of the saddest days of the year, one of the greatest tragedies and it does not add up to me."

But the Dean of Newcastle, the Very Rev Christopher Dalliston, said: "I don't think it is a crude or vulgar depiction. It is a very traditional depiction, but in a different material. It's quite thought-provoking."

Published: 03/04/2006