Naples will demolish one of its Maradona murals

It is the largest portrait of the football star in existence

Diego Maradona, the iconic football star, who captured the world’s imagination with his outlandish abilities on the pitch and his controversial antics off it, is possibly just as or even more revered in the Italian city of Naples as he was in his home country of Argentina.

Naples is the site of four large murals painted on residential tower flats in the working-class districts of the city commemorating the footballer who led the local club Napoli to two championship titles in Serie A in 1987 and 1990.

However, it was announced that one of these murals will have to be torn down together with the buildings it stands on. The mural in question was painted by the artist Jorit and is considered to be the largest portrait of Diego Maradona, who passed away in 2020.

Urban renovation plans

Built as emergency housing following the devastating Irpinia earthquake in 1980, two adjoining tower blocks will be demolished on 2 February, levelling all 360 homes as part of a major redevelopment scheme in the area. Both buildings display large murals on their windowless sides – one shows the football star in his middle age above the words Dios Umano (Human God), and the other one is of a young boy called Niccolo, painted to raise awareness of autism.

The murals were painted in 2017 and 2018 and are located in Via Taverna di Ferro, facing a roundabout bearing the name Diego Armando Maradona. The area is known locally as the "Bronx" and is part of the San Giovanni a Teduccio neighbourhood.

"Obviously I'm sorry but let's not forget that the work was intended to shine a spotlight on the Bronx,” commented Jorit upon hearing about the plans of the local government to demolish the buildings.

There is talk about building vertical structures together with the new residential building so that the murals can be recreated, however, as of this moment there is no official decision about this.