The world renown sculpture, known as Le genie du mal or The Genius of Evil, is probably one of the most famous angel sculptures in history, and is certainly the most noteworthy piece focusing on the fallen angel Lucifer. Finished in 1848 by the Belgian artist Guillaume Geefs, it's permanent home is in St. Paul's Cathedral in Liege Belgium. Due to it's location, the English name for the exquisite piece is The Lucifer of Liege, or simply Lucifer. The sculpture itself is created in pure white marble, with Lucifer carved into a muscular and masculine human form, with his devilish wings folding out from his back. The depiction is extremely beautiful, as the man within the sculpture is carved in perfect anatomical proportion, and appears completely life like. The amazing magnificent angelic sculpture rests within a complex crafted wooden pulpit of the cathedral itself, and can be immediately seen upon entering. It's quite a breathtaking work to view from the first glance.
With regard to the commissioning of the sculpture, it was first initiated in 1837. Guillaume Geefs was obviously given command over the project, including both the design of the sculpture and it's fascinating pulpit base. The theme given to Geefs by the St. Paul staff was entitled The Triumph of Religion over the Genius of Evil. By the time that Geefs was given this specific project, he had already made a remarkable legacy for himself by creating sculptures honoring prominent politicians and state figures that embodied the Belgian independence movement of his time. As a sculptor, he was heavily influenced by highly disciplined Neoclassical romantic heroism, a style that was quite popular at the time both in and outside of Belgium. It was this romantic heroism that drove Geefs towards choosing the fallen, evil, and outcast embodiment or portrayal of Lucifer himself. Once the idea was laid out, the Church commissioner quickly approved it.
There are many subtle and heavily defined symbols carved into this sculpture. Many of these details greatly enhance the religious value of the beautiful work, and have been heavily instrumental in forging our contemporary concepts and images of Lucifer. For example, if you look closely at Lucifer's white marble feet, you will see that Geefs carved his toenails to a long point, so that they look sort of like talons. Another interesting aspect of the sculpture, is the bitten forbidden apple carved next to Lucifer's foot, along with a scepter that has had it's tip broken off. If you look at the sculpture's face, you will also see that a single tear is coming out of Lucifer's eye, and running down his cheek. Also don't forget to take note of the short pointed horns popping out from underneath Lucifer's beautiful flowing hair. And finally incase you missed it, notice how the Serpent from Genesis itself is crawling from behind the Fallen One. There are many other unique symbols.
In the coming weeks ahead, I plan to publish a few very high resolution photos of Le Genie Du Mal, all of which were taken during my trip to visit the real sculpture while vacationing in Belgium. Until these photos are published, I would like to encourage everyone to type the title of this article into Google or Bing's image database, and you will see hundreds of highly detailed photos. Now keep in mind that when Geefs created this amazing piece of work, he didn't have comics, Hollywood films, tv, and a whole variety of other widely accessible media to draw inspiration from. In creating Lucifer in such a fashion, Geefs created inspiration himself for likely centuries to come, and all from with his own imagination. We really appreciate you all taking the time to read through this quick summary on the Le Genie Du Mal. The next time that you are in Belgium, be sure to visit the city of Liege so you can see this renown and very beautiful sculpture in real life.
