Giuseppe Verdi is one of many statues to the composer in Italy. The Giuseppe Verdi Monument, a 1906 marble memorial, sculpted by Pasquale Civiletti, is located in Verdi Square in Manhattan, New York City. The monument includes a statue of Verdi himself and life-sized statues of four characters from his operas, (Aida, Otello, and Falstaff from the operas of the same names, and Leonora from "Il trovatore"). Verdi has been the subject of a number of film and stage works. These include the 1938 film directed by Carmine Gallone, "Giuseppe Verdi", starring Fosco Giachetti; the 1982 miniseries, "The Life of Verdi", directed
Falstaff (opera) a comedy. Verdi disagreed and said that he longed to write another light-hearted opera, but nobody would give him the chance. He had included moments of comedy even in his tragic operas, for example in "Un ballo in maschera" and "La forza del destino". For a comic subject Verdi considered Cervantes's "Don Quixote" and plays by Goldoni, Molière and Labiche, but found none of them wholly suitable. The singer Victor Maurel sent him a French libretto based on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew". Verdi liked it, but replied that "to deal with it properly you need a Rossini or