Ranevskaya Monument, Bronze monument in Taganrog, Russia.
The Ranevskaya Monument is a 215 cm bronze sculpture of actress Faina Ranevskaya in the role of Lyalya from the film "Foundling". It stands on a low red marble plinth in front of her childhood home at Frunze Street 10, formerly Nikolaevskaya Street 12.
The statue was erected in 2008 during the first international Ranevskaya Drama Festival, marking lasting appreciation for the actress. Sculptor David Begalov created the work to honor her life and artistic contributions to Russian theater.
Ranevskaya was born in the house behind the statue on 27 August 1896, then Nikolaevskaya Street 12. A memorial plaque went up on that building on 29 August 1986, and the city has long planned a Ranevskaya museum there. Some locals argue the actress would have disliked a monument showing her as Lyala from the film "The Foundling".
The monument sits easily accessible at a street corner in central Taganrog and is free to visit at any time. The location is quick to reach on foot and allows visitors time to examine the bronze work's details.
The statue depicts Ranevskaya as Lyala from the 1939 film "Foundling", holding a closed umbrella that the sculptor intended to rotate in her hand. Vandals repeatedly attacked the umbrella, stealing its knob and bending its handle; after a 2014 sandblasting the umbrella was welded permanently to the figure.
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