A planned Holy Week exhibition featuring nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was cancelled after Catholics threatened to kill the artist.

Lab Gallery in New York announced the shutdown of the "My Sweet Lord" show after it was inundated with complaints regarding the six-foot confectionary Christ that struck many Catholics as a display of bad taste.

Artist Cosimo Cavallaro is known for his quirky work with food as art. His past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham.

The sculpture, made from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate, presented Christ with his arms outstretched as though nailed to an invisible cross. The Cavallaro creation, in contrast with typical religious portrayals of Christ, did not include a loincloth.

The sculpture was to debut Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit was planned for Easter Sunday.

Milk chocolate Christ infuriated Catholics, including Cardinal Edward Egan, who described it as "a sickening display."

Roger Smith Hotel president James Knowles cited the public outcry in explaining his decision. The calls to the gallery even included death threats over the work of Cavallaro.

"Your response ... is crystal clear and has brought to our attention the unintended reaction of you and other conscientious friends of ours to the exhibition," Knowles wrote in the two-paragraph cancellation notice.

Matt Semler, creative director of the Lab Gallery, resigned in protest, describing criticism of the sculpture as "a Catholic fatwa."