Emperor Putin bust unveiled

[VPutin]

Emperor Putin bust unveiled

Date May 21, 2015 - 12:04AM
Roland Oliphan

Russian President Vladimir Putin as a Roman emperor. Photo: AP

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has been seen in many heroic outfits, but this may be a first even for the judo champion, bareback horseman and scuba-diving marine archaeologist.

Members of the St Petersburg Cossacks have given Mr Putin an even more heroic guise: that of a Roman emperor.

St Petersburg artist Pavel Greshnikov designed the bust unveiled at a Cossack village in at Agalatovo, north of St Petersburg. It shows Mr Putin in a toga and breastplate striking a pose more associated with Julius Caesar.

Emperor Putin. Photo: Reuters

Mr Greshnikov reportedly settled on the Roman outfit after experimenting with different looks, including knight's armour.

Andrey Polyakov, the ataman or Cossack leader who came up with the idea, said Mr Greshnikov had also cast a laurel wreath to complete the outfit, but the Cossacks turned it down as a bit over the top.

"This way he is still ours, Russian, but with the wreath he would have been completely Roman," Mr Polyakov told Nevsky Novosti, a local news website.

Salute for a Russian emperor. Photo: Reuters

The statue unveiled on Saturday is a temporary model made of synthetic materials which will later be replaced with a larger, bronze version.

It will stand alongside a statue of a St Petersburg Cossack who died fighting in east Ukraine.

Telegraph, London