Portugese sculptor Emanuel Jorge da Silva Santos had to cop a lot of criticism for his bust of Cristiano Ronaldo last year. The sculpture was commissioned by Madeira Airport (Ronaldo was born on in Madeira), and took pride of place in the building, but the reviews of Santos' work was less than complimentary:
To the makers of the sculpture - #YouHadOneJob #RonaldoBust pic.twitter.com/oooRxDuI4t
— Fahad Shahud (@fahadism) March 30, 2017
While Santos' ego took the battering of a lifetime as his work of art became reduced to the status of a punchline, Bleacher Report have generously offered the sculptor a chance at redemption:
A serious upgrade on the Santos' first effort but the 41-year-old revealed that he is still fond of his first attempt at the Real Madrid superstar:
I liked the result [of the first bust] and was really proud of it. And if I had to do it again, I would make everything exactly the same.
Santos revealed he took the opportunity in order to "show people that I'm not what the media made me look like", and in that respect you would have to say that the Madeira native has managed to claw back some decency from the whole situation.
You can watch Bleacher Report's documentary on Santos and his sculpture here:
A year ago today, Emanuel Santos’ Cristiano Ronaldo bust was unveiled. The world laughed at him.
We challenged him to try again. He accepted. pic.twitter.com/TLV1iJv1MN
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 29, 2018
