Former Playboy model Marisa Papen has made a career out of getting arrested for posing nude or semi-nude for photographs taken in various locations of religious significance, and the 27-year-old Belgian added to her résumé this week when she revealed that she had recently been busted and jailed for a series of nude and religiously irreverent photos snapped inside the world headquarters of the Catholic religion: the Vatican, Britain’s Sun newspaper reported.
In one image, which may be viewed at this link, a nude Papen sits on a stack of Bibles. In another image, at this link, the fully nude Papen is seen crossing a street inside Vatican City while dragging a large, wooden crucifix—a send-up of the classic Christ's final journey imagery.
As might have been expected, Vatican police were less than amused by the photo shoot, in which Australian photographer Jesse Walker, of ENKI Eyewear, photographed—and had previously been arrested with—Papen in her previous nude public photo shoots.
"I was right in the middle of putting on my underwear when two police cars suddenly arrived and another four cops approached us on foot, brandishing their batons and saying 'passports, please,’” Papen recounted, quoted by The Sun.
The Vatican arrest resulted in about 10 hours in an Italian jail cell for Papen and Walker.
“There we were again, behind bars in a tiny little cell with dirt and ash on the floor,” the nude model said. “Jesse and I looked at each other and we burst out laughing."
Among the sites where Papen had earlier posed for photos taken by Walker was the famed Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, where Papen posed wearing a burka, but lifting the front of the garment to reveal herself nude from the waist down, as seen in the image at this link.
But the Turkish hoot, while causing a controversy, did not result in Papen’s arrest. She did, however, spend a night in an Egyptian jail after posing topless at the Karnak Temple complex in Luxor, Egypt.
“We are willing to put it all on the line for these photoshoots even if it means jail time. It is something we thrive on and are very used to now so it is nothing new,” said Walker, quoted by The Sun. "I like to think ENKI and Marisa are the two most controversial artists and brand on the planet right now, and that's something I am very proud of."
Earlier this year, Papen posed fully nude across from the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Israel, in an image that can be seen at this link. The Wailing Wall, as the last standing remnant of the Second Temple, which was destroyed the the Roman army in 70 A.D. is the considered the holiest prayer site in the Jewish religion.
But despite her repeated nude photo shoots at religious sites honoring Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Papel says that she has no issues with religion, only with established religious institutions.
“For me, the biggest problem is with the institutions built around religion,” she said. “They are driven by money and are soulless.”
Photo by Marisa Papen Facebook
