In 1842, St. Paul's Cathedral in Liège commissioned a marble statue of Satan, the Fallen Angel, as part of a religious installation, from sculptor Joseph Geefs. The resulting statue—a pouty, sexy, androgynous, chocolate-box Satan with slightly parted knees, a demure downward-cast glance, and a plump serpent coiled a his feet—raised eyebrows. Though admired at the highest levels of society, the sculpture was also controversial and attracted criticism for being too seductive and "sublime." In 1848, it is believed that Joseph's brother, Guillaume Geefs, decided to tackle the criticism of his brother's voluptuous rendering by sculpting his own version of Satan. Guillaume's idea of desexualizing Satan was to make him more muscular, athletic, and classically masculine and imperious, complete with BDSM-worthy manacles and chains. Whereas Joseph's Satan's legs were slightly parted, Guillaume's Satan's knees were pressed together, either protectively or defiantly. Trying to remove the homoeroticism from a nude statue of the most beautiful angel in heaven by making him more dominant, rugged, and athletic is one of the reasons 19th century Belgian sculptors might have needed a few more gay friends, if only to advise them on how that business actually works.
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