Tony Soprano Statue

It wasn't just by random chance that Lithuanian artist Donatas Jankauskas chose to create a mafia figure for Vilnius’s Unexpected Spaces program in 2009. The statue, originally placed in front of the Theatre, Music and Film Museum, highlighted that the institution had been run by a single family for years.

In the years since it was created, Jankauskas’ creation has traveled throughout Lithuania and seemed to have reached its final destination at the train station in the town where it was first built. Now the head of the Sopranos family from HBO’s eponymous crime drama greets passengers at the main train station in Vilnius. The 15-foot-tall statue depicts Tony Soprano wearing boxers and a tank top, topped with a white bathrobe. Inspiration for the outfit came from a scene where Tony picks up the newspapers from the front lawn of his home.

As an artist, Jankauskas often mixes figures from modern pop culture with motifs pulled from art and history. Some of his other pieces include references to Planet of the Apes and Japanese manga cartoons.