It dates back to 1990, the year of the second championship won by the Napoli football team. The mural was created by a young 23-year-old, Mario Filardi, precisely to celebrate the victory. At the time, street art was not very widespread in Naples, and there were few tools available. The lighting was poor, so Mario was helped by car headlights. The window you see, in both images on Maradona's face, wasn't there yet, and Mario managed to complete his mural. The aesthetic value wasn't excellent, but the symbolic value was: from that moment, all Neapolitans would have a place of worship, where they could admire the work dedicated to the one who had made their dream come true, that is, the victory of the championship, a great redemption for the city of Naples.
Maradona had shown that even those who came from a humble background could become a champion. Thanks to him, Naples was at the center of the world.
It was also probably the dream of the street artist Mario Filardi, who, even as a very young man, had traveled the world working as a waiter, so as not to burden his family's expenses. But he liked to paint, he was good at it, and when Napoli won the championship, the neighborhood kids called him to honor the champion.
Mario, on a makeshift ladder, drew Maradona's body, but didn't paint the feet—who knows if it was because he realized too late that he had run out of space, or because he wanted to leave them to the imagination of the Neapolitans.
After some time, one of the building's tenants decided to open an illegal window right on Maradona's face in the mural: you can imagine the disagreement among the neighborhood residents! The fate of the window was to remain closed, but in the meantime its construction had damaged the mural, so Salvatore Iodice, a local boy now known to most for the Miniera recycling workshop, had to intervene. Salvatore redrew the champion's face; again, a work of no particular beauty, but at least Maradona had regained a face.
Then, in 2017, the Argentine artist Francisco Bosoletti came to Naples, to the Spanish Quarters, to create his "Iside" right on the building next to the Maradona mural, and they asked him to redo the face on the window. And so, as a result, an expression more similar to the real one was achieved.
After the death of the d10s, as he is called by Neapolitans, Largo degli Artisti has become an even more important meeting point not only for all Napoli fans, but also for those who want to witness the love that Neapolitans have felt and still feel today for the one who was the greatest footballer of all time.
It is right there that, immediately after Maradona's death, many Neapolitans felt the need to go; it is from there that the torchlight procession to honor our hero began. In just a few square meters, all the love, football faith, desire for redemption, emotions of victory, and the pain for one of the losses the city has not yet overcome are gathered.
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Largo degli Artisti, mural dedicated to Diego Armando Maradona, dates back to 1990, the year of the second championship won by the Neapolitan football team. The mural was painted by a young 23-year-old boy, Mario Filardi, in order to celebrate the victory. At the time, street art was not very widespread in Naples, and the tools available were few. The lighting of roads was poor, so Mario was helped by the car headlights. The window you can see in both images on Maradona's face was not there yet, and Mario was able to complete his mural. The aesthetic value was not excellent, but the symbolic one, of course it was: from that moment, all Neapolitans would have had a place of worship, where they could admire the work dedicated to the hero who had realized their dream, namely the victory of the championship, a great redemption for the Neapolitan city. Maradona had shown that even those who came from a humble background could become a champion. Thanks to him, Naples was at the center of the world. It was also the dream of street artist Mario Filardi, probably, who had already gone around the world as a waiter at a very young age, so as not to burden his family's economic expenses. But he liked to paint, he was good, and when Napoli won the championship, the boys from the neighborhoods called him, to honor the champion. Mario, on a makeshift scale, drew the body of Maradona, but did not draw his feet, probably because he realized too late that there was no space available anymore to draw the mural, or because he wanted to leave them to the imagination of the Neapolitans. After some time, one of the tenants of the building decided to open an abusive window right on the face of the Maradona mural: you can imagine the disagreement of the inhabitants of the neighborhood! The fate of the window was to remain closed, but in the meantime its construction had caused damage to the mural, and therefore Salvatore Iodice, a neighborhood boy, now known to most for the recycling laboratory "Miniera", had to intervene. Salvatore drew the champion's face again; also in this case, a work of no particular beauty, but at least Maradona had regained a face. Then, in 2017, the Argentine artist Francisco Bosoletti came to Naples, in the Spanish quarters, to create his "Isis" right on the building next to the mural of Maradona, they asked him to redo the face on the window. And here, as a result, an expression more similar to the real one was obtained. After the death of the d10s, as it is called by the Neapolitans, Largo degli Artisti has become an even more important meeting point not only for all Napoli fans, but also for those who want to be witnesses of the love that the Neapolitans have felt and they still feel against the one who was the best footballer of all time. It is precisely there that, immediately after the death of Maradona, many of the Neapolitans felt the need to go, it is from there that the torchlight procession to honor our hero started. In a few square meters you will be able to find all the love, the football faith, the desire for redemption, the emotions of victory and the pain for one of the losses that the city has not yet overcome.
Largo degli artisti, mural dedicated to Diego Armando Maradona. It dates back to 1990, the year of the second championship won by the Napoli football team. The mural was made by a young 23-year-old, Mario Filardi, precisely to celebrate the victory. At the time, street art was not very widespread in Naples, and the tools available were few. The lighting was poor, so Mario was helped by car headlights. The window you see, in both images on Maradona's face, was not there yet, and Mario managed to complete his mural. The aesthetic value was not excellent, but the symbolic value was: from that moment, all Neapolitans would have a place of worship, where they could admire the work dedicated to the one who had made their dream come true, that is, the victory of the championship, a great redemption for the city of Naples. Maradona had shown that even those who came from a humble background could become a champion. Thanks to him, Naples was at the center of the world. It was also probably the dream of the street artist Mario Filardi, who, even as a very young man, had gone around the world working as a waiter, so as not to burden his family's finances. But he liked to paint, he was good, and when Napoli won the championship, the neighborhood kids called him to honor the champion. Mario, on a makeshift ladder, drew Maradona's body, but did not paint the feet, perhaps because he realized too late that he had run out of space, or because he wanted to leave them to the imagination of the Neapolitans. After some time, one of the tenants of the building decided to open an illegal window right on Maradona's face in the mural: you can imagine the disagreement of the neighborhood residents! The fate of the window was to remain closed, but in the meantime its construction had caused damage to the mural, so Salvatore Iodice, a neighborhood boy, now known to most for the Miniera recycling workshop, had to intervene. Salvatore drew the champion's face again; also in this case, a work of no particular beauty, but at least Maradona had regained a face. Then, in 2017, the Argentine artist came to Naples, in the Spanish Quarters, to create his "Iside" right on the building next to Maradona's mural, and they asked him to redo the face on the window. And so, as a result, an expression more similar to the real one was obtained. After the death of the d10s, as he is called by Neapolitans, Largo degli artisti has become an even more important meeting point not only for all Napoli fans, but also for those who want to witness the love that Neapolitans have felt and still feel today for the one who was the greatest footballer of all time. It is right there that, immediately after Maradona's death, many Neapolitans felt the need to go, it is from there that the torchlight procession to honor our hero started. In just a few square meters, all the love, football faith, desire for redemption, the emotions of victory, and the pain for one of the losses that the city has not yet overcome are gathered.
Largo degli artisti, mural dedicated to Diego Armando Maradona. It dates back to 1990, the year of the second championship won by the Napoli football team. The mural was made by a young 23-year-old, Mario Filardi, precisely to celebrate the victory. At the time, street art was not very widespread in Naples, and the tools available were few. The lighting was poor, so Mario was helped by car headlights. The window you see, in both images on Maradona's face, was not there yet, and Mario managed to complete his mural. The aesthetic value was not excellent, but the symbolic value was: from that moment, all Neapolitans would have a place of worship, where they could admire the work dedicated to the one who had made their dream come true, that is, the victory of the championship, a great redemption for the city of Naples. Maradona had shown that even those who came from a humble background could become a champion. Thanks to him, Naples was at the center of the world. It was also probably the dream of the street artist Mario Filardi, who from a very young age had traveled the world working as a waiter, so as not to burden his family's finances. But he liked to paint, he was good, and when Napoli won the championship, the neighborhood kids called him to honor the champion. Mario, on a makeshift ladder, drew Maradona's body, but did not paint the feet, perhaps because he realized too late that he had run out of space, or because he wanted to leave them to the imagination of the Neapolitans. After some time, one of the building's tenants decided to open an illegal window right on Maradona's face in the mural: you can imagine the disagreement of the neighborhood residents! The fate of the window was to remain closed, but in the meantime its construction had caused damage to the mural, so Salvatore Iodice, a neighborhood boy, now known to most for the Miniera recycling workshop, had to intervene. Salvatore drew the champion's face again; also in this case, a work of no particular beauty, but at least Maradona had regained a face. Then, in 2017, the Argentine artist came to Naples, in the Spanish Quarters, to create his "Iside" right on the building next to the Maradona mural, and they asked him to redo the face on the window. And so, as a result, an expression more similar to the real one was achieved. After the death of the d10s, as he is called by Neapolitans, Largo degli artisti has become an even more important meeting point not only for all Napoli fans, but also for those who want to witness the love that Neapolitans have felt and still feel today for the one who was the greatest footballer of all time. It is right there that, immediately after Maradona's death, many Neapolitans felt the need to go, and it is from there that the torchlight procession to honor our hero began. In just a few square meters, all the love, football faith, desire for redemption, emotions of victory, and the pain for one of the losses that the city has not yet overcome are gathered. *************************************************************************************************Largo degli Artisti, mural dedicated to Diego Armando Maradona, dates back to 1990, the year of the second championship won by the Neapolitan football team. The mural was painted by a young 23-year-old boy, Mario Filardi, in order to celebrate the victory. At the time, street art was not very widespread in Naples, and the tools available were few. The lighting of roads was poor, so Mario was helped by the car headlights. The window you can see in both images on Maradona's face was not there yet, and Mario was able to complete his mural. The aesthetic value was not excellent, but the symbolic one, of course it was: from that moment, all Neapolitans would have had a place of worship, where they could admire the work dedicated to the hero who had realized their dream, namely the victory of the championship, a great redemption for the Neapolitan city. Maradona had shown that even those who came from a humble background could become a champion. Thanks to him, Naples was at the center of the world. It was also the dream of street artist Mario Filardi, probably, who had already gone around the world as a waiter at a very young age, so as not to burden his family's economic expenses. But he liked to paint, he was good, and when Napoli won the championship, the boys from the neighborhoods called him, to honor the champion. Mario, on a makeshift scale, drew the body of Maradona, but did not draw his feet, probably because he realized too late that there was no space available anymore to draw the mural, or because he wanted to leave them to the imagination of the Neapolitans. After some time, one of the tenants of the building decided to open an abusive window right on the face of the Maradona mural: you can imagine the disagreement of the inhabitants of the neighborhood! The fate of the window was to remain closed, but in the meantime its construction had caused damage to the mural, and therefore Salvatore Iodice, a neighborhood boy, now known to most for the recycling laboratory "Miniera", had to intervene. Salvatore drew the champion's face again; also in this case, a work of no particular beauty, but at least Maradona had regained a face. Then, in 2017, the Argentine artist Francisco Bosoletti came to Naples, in the Spanish quarters, to create his "Isis" right on the building next to the mural of Maradona, they asked him to redo the face on the window. And here, as a result, an expression more similar to the real one was obtained. After the death of the d10s, as it is called by the Neapolitans, Largo degli Artisti has become an even more important meeting point not only for all Napoli fans, but also for those who want to be witnesses of the love that the Neapolitans have felt and they still feel against the one who was the best footballer of all time. It is precisely there that, immediately after the death of Maradona, many of the Neapolitans felt the need to go, it is from there that the torchlight procession to honor our hero started. In a few square meters you will be able to find all the love, the football faith, the desire for redemption, the emotions of victory and the pain for one of the losses that the city has not yet overcome.