Central: di primo piano, centrale, fondamentale

Figure:

1 Someone who is referred to as a figure of a particular kind is a person who is well-known and important in some way.
The movement is supported by key figures in the three main political parties.

2 In art, a figure is a person in a drawing or a painting, or a statue of a person.
...a life-size bronze figure of a brooding, hooded woman.