Verdi Square Sawyer and built in 1926–28. The 72nd Street New York City Subway station () lies under the square. The Verdi Square entrance to the station in the square is one of only three remaining head houses on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. In the center of Verdi Square stands a monument to the opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, erected in 1906. A statue of him by Pasquale Civiletti (1858–1952) stands at the top of it and statues of four of his most famous characters (Falstaff on the west side of the statue, Leonora of "La forza del destino" on the south
Giuseppe Verdi the death of his mother in June 1851. The fact that this is "the one opera of Verdi's which focuses on a mother rather than a father" is perhaps related to her death. In the winter of 1851–52 Verdi decided to go to Paris with Strepponi, where he concluded an agreement with the Opéra to write what became "Les vêpres siciliennes", his first original work in the style of grand opera. In February 1852, the couple attended a performance of Alexander Dumas "fils"'s play, "The Lady of the Camellias"; Verdi immediately began to compose music for what would later become