Lil Nas X, hip-hop’s master trickster, started the year by troll-ing people online. After all the devil worship complaints about his last project, Montero, he’s apparently adopted a policy of malicious compliance, going to the other extreme with a “holy man” persona that has the same demographic calling for his head again. Big surprise, right?

He is now accused of “mocking” Christians, the same individuals who criticized him for his sexuality and self-expression a year earlier. Nas acknowledges that his image as a troll requires that his acts be handled with a grain of salt, but he disputes that this rollout is meant to toy with his fiercest critics.

Even at face value, his imagery doesn’t seem to ridicule anything. He is right—his reputation has shaped this interpretation more than anything he has said about his new visuals. He has more to say than slandering religious opponents by starring in copies of famous art works with religious connotations, even false ones.

It appears we need art history courses first. Like Doja Cat having to explain her 15th-century tattoo influences last year, giving context may help explain why so many people are upset over Nas’ promotional artwork. The single cover, which shows Nas being crucified, references many Renaissance-era Bible representations of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, although they’re not accurate.

Christ representations have long been controversial, with some traditions prohibiting them. Most of our modern religious imagery comes from Renaissance works commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church in the 15th and 16th centuries, long after anybody knew what the historical Jesus looked like. Nas uses Renaissance art, such as Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, to inspire the cover art for his No. 1 single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”.

Nas is not the first artist to use Renaissance Christ and other iconography. Before she wore grills and du-rags, Madonna annoyed conservative thinkers with videos like “Like A Prayer,” which combined crucifixes with sexual images to symbolize the Church’s long, complex relationship with sex. In his “Hate Me Now” video, Nas represented himself being crucified, a customary Roman procedure.

Fans on Twitter noted that artists like Kanye West, DaBaby, Tupac, and Kendrick Lamar have used some of these well-known symbols to promote their art, symbols that were invented over 1,000 years ago. Contrary to some criticism of Lil Nas X, current artists have used many classical compositions to sell their music.

It may seem that way since those works are most prevalent in Western society. Toy advertising disguised as kids’ cartoons didn’t name-check the most famous West African or East Asian artists. Some religions, like some early Christian traditions, forbid depictions of their most sacred figures. Why do you suppose no one dressed up as Muhammad for Halloween?

It appears that Lil Nas X has received an excessive amount of criticism for his copies of traditional Renaissance interpretations of Biblical stories. While his reputation as a troll may explain why some see his posts as satire, it’s clear that religion’s unwillingness to accept queerness is a major factor. Unfortunately, like Nas’ Renaissance pictures for his commercials, homophobia isn’t essential to Christianity. A discussion for another day.