Veau d’or, pied d’or, apparement l’or dure… Golden Calf, Golden Foot, Golden Anything…
Images Reuters via Le Monde
(A video of the making of a replica in pure gold of the Argentine soccer player, Lionel Messi’s left foot.)
LeMonde:
Une réplique en or massif du pied gauche du footballeur argentin Lionel Messi, moulé jusque dans le détail des vaisseaux sanguins et de la peau, est mise en vente cette semaine au Japon.
La sculpture de 25 kg, d’une valeur légèrement supérieure à 4 millions d’euros, est l’œuvre d’une maison de joaillerie japonaise faite à partir d’un moule de la vedette du FC Barcelone, afin de célébrer son quatrième Ballon d’or d’affilée, obtenu début janvier.
Une partie des profits de la transaction sera reversée, via la fondation de Lionel Messi, aux populations touchées par le séisme et le tsunami qui ont frappé le Japon, il y a deux ans.

From CBC:
If anyone doubts Lionel Messi has a golden foot, now there’s proof.
A pure gold replica of his left foot was unveiled in Tokyo on Wednesday.
The foot, which is valued at $5.25 million US, was created by Japanese jeweller Ginza Tanaka to commemorate the football player’s achievements.
“It’s exceptional,” Messi’s brother, Rodrigo, said at the unveiling.
“You can see each line in the foot. It’s an impressive piece of work.”
The jeweller said he cast Messi’s foot in Spain at the end of 2012.
“We loved the sound of making the ‘Golden Left Foot’ and it being gold, it was our goal to make the project of recreating Messi’s left foot a reality,” said Masakazu Tanaka, president of the company that made the golden artifact.
The foot will go on sale on Thursday, with an endorsement from the Leo Messi Foundation, which helps children at risk around the world.
Other golden artifacts going on sale are Messi’s golden footprint worth $94,500 US and the “Golden Foot Mini,” which is half the size of the actual golden foot, worth $42,000 US.
Part of the proceeds will go to Messi’s foundation which, in turn, will go to support children in areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami disaster that hit Japan in March 2011.

Photo: MIGUEL RUIZ-FCB