Giacomo Puccini. Montecatini Terme, Italy, 2015

In 2016, another monument by Aidyn Zeinalov was opened in the Italian town of Montecatini Terme; the statue commemorates the great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. The atmosphere of the resort town, where the maestro used to spend his vacations, must have inspired the sculptor to create “an informal portrait” of the celebrated man. Puccini is depicted lounging on a long bench, wearing a jacket, with a scarf around his neck, a bowler hat, a cane in one hand, and a cigarette in the other. The look on his face seems to match his self-description as “a skilled hunter of wild birds, opera librettos, and beautiful women.”