About this tag

The sculpture is meant to make an uncomfortable point, and Louisville added an extra layer of discomfort. Installed in 2018, it depicts Jesus sleeping beneath a blanket on a bench, recognizable only by the wounds in his feet. The St. James Catholic Church itself acknowledged the awkwardness: actual unhoused people sometimes slept in its doorways, making a bronze monument to homelessness hard to separate from the real thing. A donation box beside the sculpture later raised thousands of dollars for practical assistance. Whether that makes the piece profound, irritating, or both probably depends on the day.