ROME, Italy -- A sculptor specializing in larger-than-life bronze nudes Monday unveiled a model of a 12-foot statue of pop star Madonna to be erected in the medieval hilltown her grandparents left for the United States early this century.
The modernistic statue shows Madonna twirling in the kind of frenetic dance she performs in her stage shows, clad only in a flimsy bikini.
As sculptor Walter Pugni unveiled the 2-foot clay model, he twirled the pedestal to give the impression of Madonna in motion as a tape played Madonna's hit song 'Whose That Girl?'
'But this is only a small clay model,' the 50-year-old sculptor said. 'The finished model, 12 feet high and in shining bronze, will be something else.'
The idea of erecting a statue to Madonna in Pacentro was inspired by Madonna's first concert tour in Italy last September. Madonna's grandparents emigrated from Pacentro to the United States in 1919.
During her concert performances in Turin and Florence, Madonna did not accept invitations to visit the town of 1,200 inhabitants 75 miles east of Rome. But some distant cousins from Pacentro traveled to Turin to meet her.
Now Pugni and the Naples Friends of Show Business organization, which sponsored and paid for the $200,000 project, are hoping Madonna will come to Pacentro to attend the unveiling of the real statue at the end of February.
The statue is to be erected in a small piazza near a ruined medieval castle in the center of the village.
Pugni says he designed his statue as a tribute to all the Italian emigrants who went to the United States to seek their fortunes. At Madonna's feet are a clutch of suitcases representing the emigrant image.
