As Cristiano Ronaldo’s statue was unveiled at the Madeira airport in Portugal on Thursday, social media was abuzz with activity mocking the footballer’s latest sculpture. Ronado was honoured by his hometown of Madeira, by renaming the island’s airport as the ‘Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport’. However, the statue got all the attention with memes and users using it as source of entertainment.
On Friday, the sculptor who designed statue defended his handiwork. Emanuel Santos said, “Even Jesus did not please everyone. This is a matter of taste, it’s not as simple as it seems. Reproducing a public figure, and not just any public figure, is a complex task.”
The statue bore little resemblance with Ronaldo with people comparing the artist to be a Messi fan. “It’s impossible to please the Greeks and the Trojans,” he said. “I have seen the work of great artists that follow this parameter. What matters is the impact this work generated.”
Santos said that he was prepared of the possibility of the statue looking different. “There is always the possibility of producing something that looks different, I was already prepared for all of that. I used some photos of Cristiano Ronaldo that I found on the internet as a base, not one photo specifically. I put the photos by my side and started working on the bust. Cristiano saw the photos that his brother sent him. I was with the brother at Cristiano’s museum in Madeira and from the messages he sent, I could tell that he liked what he saw.”
However, Ronaldo did ask for some changes said Santos. “He only asked for some wrinkles to be changed, that give him a certain expression in his face when he’s about to laugh. He said it made him look older and asked for it to be thinned out a bit to make it smoother and more jovial. But they gave it the go-ahead before they liked what they saw.”
Santos said that he was still learning the job and was happy with his progress. “I’m taking my first steps in this line of work and the intention by doing something this size is to open doors,” said the sculptor. “I’ve got other things to work on already, but the more the merrier.”
