Diego Rivera's Grave, JFK, Assisi and Murals Worldwide Including Banksy, Poems and The Graffiti Wall Art of Hollywood, Florida

Murals probably started when the first caveman painted catch of the day on the walls of his cave. Nowadays murals can paint political statements, recall historical events such as the Battle of Cable Street in the Thirties in London's East End, internationally known characters such as JFK, modern personalities such as footballer Ronaldo, or Banksy trample l'oeuil paintings which make you laugh.

MEXICO

Mural by Diego Rivera, Mexico City, Mexico. From Wikipedia. Copyright free under Mexico's 

Freedom Of Panorama.

Outdoor Murals
The great thing about murals is that most of the outdoor ones are free to see. They brighten up what would otherwise be dull bits of wall.

Indoor Restaurants
Indoors you can enjoy a glimpse of the outdoors in restaurants and cellar bars.

UK

Mural surrounding artificial indoor snow ski slope at the Snow Centre, UK, seen from the restaurant. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Mural of Billingsgate, London's fish market at Sea Pebbles Restaurant, Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Closer view of the mural at Sea Pebbles, showing Billingsgate Fish Market. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright.

Fish on a mural on a bridge near Camden Town tube station, London. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright.

Mural on a bridge near Camden Town tube station, London. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Mural showing Venice in Dona Teresa, Italian restaurant in Hatch End, NW London, England. The man dining is admiring the mural. He is not part of it. Photo by Angela Lansbury, copyright.

EUROPE
Ancient Graffiti and Murals.
ITALY
Murals have been popular since the times of the Romans. Think of Pompei.

Frescoes are a type of mural painted onto a damp background.
Grand mansions are decorated with trompe l'oeuil.

Wiki says of The Last Supper:

The Last Supper is a late 15th-century mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. It is one of the world's most famous paintings.

Cathedrals have murals on ceilings and walls. Perugia, capital of Umbria, has murals inside the cathedral and town hall.

Thirteenth century murals in Sala dei Notari, Palazzo dei Priori, Perugia, Umbria, Italy. Photo from Wikipedia. Photo author Georges Jansoone.

St Francis of Assisi appears on murals in Cathedrals, museums and religious buildings all over Umbria in Italy.
Museo San Francesco -
Museum complex of St Francis, Montefalco, Italy, has extensive murals on the walls and ceilings including several telling the life of St Francis.

Montefalco murals, Umbria, Italy. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Italian murals in Umbria, Italy. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

US
In America Diego Rivera painted murals: Detroit.

UK
Modern Murals
Modern cities such as Bristol in England have Banksy and other artists.

London has dozens of murals. A mural society has a whole page of links and pictures. One of my favourites is the Hokusai wave in Camberwell, SE London.

In East London a mural commemorates the Battle of Cable Street, on Sunday 4th October, 1936. I am very interested in this and feature it in my novel based on my family history. The mural is at 236, Cable Street, E1 OBL, near Shadwell Railway station. It was inspired by Diego Rivera's fish eye lens effect; also Goya's painting of The Third of May 1801 which hangs in the Prado art museum in Madrid, capital of Spain. (See more about the Cable Street mural and Shadwell station wall decorations in the later posts on September 29th 2017.)

Birmingham has a mural of JFK.

JFK Memorial in Birmingham, England, UK. Photo by Brianboru100 in Wikipedia.

EUROPE
Poems painted on walls in the Dutch city of Leiden in The Netherlands include one by E E Cummings.

THE NETHERLANDS

Photo of e e cummings poem on the wall in Leiden, Netherlands, from Wikipedia.

Mexico
Mexico City has a large mural by Diego Rivera.
His tomb is in the Dolores Cemetery.

MEXICO

Tomb of Diego Rivera in Mexico City. Photo from Wikipedia by Thelmadatter.

USA
In the USA the city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania is known for murals.

More Murals Needed
Tell the graffiti people and tourist boards of major cities such as London and Bucharest and Brasov in Romania that the Florida murals are the sort of graffiti which cities worldwide should be growing, sponsoring, commissioning and promoting.

People
DIEGO RIVERA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Rivera
Murals in: Mexico City, San Francisco, Detroit.
Artist: wife Freda Kahlo, friend Trotksy.

CRISTIANO RONALDO
http://www.cristianoronaldo.com

Murals In Cities:
Brazil: Sao Paulo, Museo Aberto de Arte Urbana. (Open air art on walls under the bridge along the centre of street.)
Mexico: Diego Rivera tomb, Mexico City.
Netherlands: Leiden; wall poems.
Russia: Kazan, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, has a mural of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo - see it only from Portugal Hotel.
UK: Birmingham, JFK. Bristol, Banksy. London: Camden Town; Brixton Murals. Manchester Murals (historical scenes).
USA: Philadelphia. Diego Rivera in Detroit,  Florida. St Peter, Clearwater.

Tips For Trips
Europe: Netherlands
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_poems_in_Leiden

USA
http://murallocator.org/tag/new-york/
http://www.visitphilly.com/music-art/philadelphia/mural-arts-philadelphia/
The Graffiti Wall Art of Hollywood, Florida: The wall art in Florida that you must add to your 'visit' list.
http://www.visitstpeteclearwater.com/list/ultimate-list-of-street-art-st-pete

UK
https://www.thesnowcentre.com
www.donatheresa.com
https://www.facebook.com/London-Mural-Preservation-Society-171237189587154/
http://londonmuralpreservationsociety.com/murals/hokusai-wave-mural/

Russia
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-4617312/Ronaldo-painted-Russian-mural-team-see.html

Tourist Boards & Travel Advice

UK
www.visitbritain.org
www.visitlondon.com/
https://www.visitengland.com/things-to-do/bristol

USA & MEXICO
www.visittheusa.co.uk/‎
http://www.visitphilly.com/music-art/philadelphia/mural-arts-philadelphia/
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings.html
https://www.visitmexico.com/en

EUROPE / ITALY
http://www.italia.it/en/home.html
www.umbriatourism.it
http://www.holland.com/global/tourism.htm

RUSSIA
https://www.visitrussia.com 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
See my post about graffiti in Bucharest and Romania. Please share your favourite posts.