--- title: Cristiano Ronaldo Poses With Questionable Bronze Statue description: The international soccer star returned to his Portuguese home for an airport renaming ceremony—and unveiled an odd statue in his likeness. canonical: https://time.com/4716596/cristiano-ronaldo-bronze-statue/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-29T16:23:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T10:12:33.000Z og:title: Cristiano Ronaldo Poses With Questionable Bronze Statue og:description: The statue of the soccer star was unveiled at an airport renaming ceremony. og:url: https://time.com/4716596/cristiano-ronaldo-bronze-statue/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7efc3f6f5e649254/6988c05e0a4a2230c69cd73a/cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-airport-statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-airport-statue og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cristiano Ronaldo Poses With Questionable Bronze Statue twitter:description: The statue of the soccer star was unveiled at an airport renaming ceremony. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7efc3f6f5e649254/6988c05e0a4a2230c69cd73a/cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-airport-statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Has Jokes About Cristiano Ronaldo's Questionable New Bronze Statue > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Fed-Up Cristiano Ronaldo Tosses a Reporter’s Microphone Into a Lake [Watch (HLS stream): Fed-Up Cristiano Ronaldo Tosses a Reporter’s Microphone Into a Lake](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CwW3tBtv.m3u8) (0:21)  _Published 2016-06-22. Cristiano Ronaldo is under a lot of pressure. So when a reporter for Portugal’s CMTV approached Ronaldo grabs the mic out of his hands and tosses it into the lake._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:12 AM UTCPublished: Mar 29, 2017 4:23 PM UTC  Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo stands near a bust of his likeness during a ceremony to rename Madeira's airport after him on March 29, 2017\. Right: The bust that was revealed. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo stands near a bust of his likeness during a ceremony to rename Madeira's airport after him on March 29, 2017\. Right: The bust that was revealed. Francisco Leong—AFP/Getty Images; Octavio Passos—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Updated: Dec 13, 2023 10:12 AM UTCPublished: Mar 29, 2017 4:23 PM UTC International soccer star [Cristiano Ronaldo](http://time.com/4592346/top-viral-youtube-videos-2016/item/nike-football-presents-the-switch-ft-cristiano-ronaldo/) is known for his fancy footwork on the field—and [model-worthy looks](http://time.com/3086527/cristiano-ronaldo-japanese-facial-fitness-ad/) off of it. A bronze statue crafted in his famous likeness and unveiled at the [renaming ceremony](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/mar/29/cristiano-ronaldo-gets-airport-named-in-his-honour-and-a-dubious-bust) of a Portuguese airport on Wednesday, however, is raising eyebrows for its questionable portrayal of the athlete. Portugal’s Aeroporto da Madeira, now known as Cristiano Ronaldo Airport after the remote island’s blockbuster export, according to [_The Telegraph_](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/03/29/cristiano-ronaldo-unveils-horrifying-bronze-bust-madeira-airport/), played host to Ronaldo himself during Wednesday’s honor. But the internet was quickly captivated by the bizarre bronze bust situated just behind him. Although apparently meant to pay tribute to Ronaldo, its toothy grin is not winning it many fans. Instead, it’s generating plenty of jokes, memes, and head-shaking. This artistic criticism follows in the footsteps of the [Lucille Ball tribute statue](http://time.com/4442285/lucille-ball-statue-scary-lucy/) in New York, proving that perhaps bronze is not the most forgiving of materials when it comes to celebrity portraiture. > [](https://twitter.com/tds153/status/847072540438728704) > [](https://twitter.com/ShadowLeagueTSL/status/847097926342131712) > [](https://twitter.com/FootbalIStuff/status/847093124291837952) > [](https://twitter.com/Chris%5FStark/status/847088912321445889) > [](https://twitter.com/FootballRamble/status/847083731152179202) UPDATE: On Thursday, the 40-year-old self-taught sculptor Emanuel Santos defended his smiley work of art, informing thousands of online critics that he followed the international soccer star’s vision to a tee. “It’s impossible to please the Greeks and the Trojans, and even Jesus couldn’t please everyone … It’s a matter of taste and not as simple as it seems,” the 40-year-old artist said about his bust according to [Reuters](http://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUKKBN1711YL?utm%5Fcampaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm%5Fcontent=58dd179604d30107ae844095&utm%5Fmedium=trueAnthem&utm%5Fsource=twitter). “He only asked for some wrinkles that gave him a certain expression in his face when he’s about to laugh to be changed,” Reuters reported he said, quoting the forward’s interview with Globo Esporte. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4716596/cristiano-ronaldo-bronze-statue/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4716596/cristiano-ronaldo-bronze-statue/"},"headline":"The Internet Has Jokes About Cristiano Ronaldo's Questionable New Bronze Statue","datePublished":"2017-03-29T16:23:25.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T10:12:33.000Z","description":"The statue of the soccer star was unveiled at an airport renaming ceremony.","url":"https://time.com/4716596/cristiano-ronaldo-bronze-statue/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","viral","Bizarre"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7efc3f6f5e649254/6988c05e0a4a2230c69cd73a/cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-airport-statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7efc3f6f5e649254/6988c05e0a4a2230c69cd73a/cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-airport-statue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cristiano-ronaldo-portugal-airport-statue","caption":"Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo stands near a bust of his likeness during a ceremony to rename Madeira's airport after him on March 29, 2017. 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