NEW YORK (AP) – Offers to buy or exhibit a nude chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ have poured in since the piece caused a stir and lost its gallery space in New York, said the artist who made it.

But artist Cosimo Cavallaro said Saturday he also has received some threats, so he is storing the sculpture for now in a refrigerated truck in an undisclosed location.

A Manhattan gallery on Friday called off a planned exhibit of the 6-foot sculpture – called “My Sweet Lord” – amid a deluge of complaints from Catholics, including Cardinal Edward Egan.

They were offended by the anatomically correct confection, which does not include the loincloth typical in religious portrayals of Christ. Many also were outraged that the gallery planned to display the sculpture during Holy Week. The exhibit was to have run from Monday through Easter Sunday inside midtown Manhattan’s Roger Smith Hotel.

Cavallaro said the controversy spurred “thousands” of e-mail messages from people offering help, donations and exhibition space. “It’s quite amazing,” he said.