Last Friday, October 6, the unveiling of the new bronze statue of Maria Callas in the clearing of Roberto Galli, on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, caused a stir on Twitter.

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More specifically, the second full-length statue of the legendary opera singer, a tribute to the 100th anniversary of her birth, was created by sculptor and professor of the Athens School of Fine Arts Aphrodite Liti and was unveiled by Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis in the presence of the Maria Callas Greek Society, which commissioned the artwork.

However, the result seems to have disappointed many social media users, who were quick to comment that the statue is far from a realistic depiction of the great opera singer. Of course, Twitter users were very inventive in their commentary. According to the most scathing comments, the statue looks much more like the Oscar statuette. Others likened it to Indira Gandhi, the villain from the movie “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” and C-3PO, the humanoid robot character from Star Wars.

It is worth mentioning that the statue’s commissioning and placement follows a series of events in honour of the celebrated Greek diva that began earlier this year with the successful exhibition “Maria Callas: World Priestess of Opera” at the Achillion Palace on the island of Corfu. The exhibition featured costumes from the Teatro della Scala di Milano, as well as personal items, books and scores of the beloved soprano. The events will culminate in 2023 with the opening of the “Maria Callas Museum” in the centre of Athens and the celebration of 100th anniversary of her birth.