Favorite Murals
 

I've always been so intrigued by the Dante-esque murals on the insides of the various Italian Duomos; satanic demons taking the bad off to their eternal destiny. The Last Judgement always captured my interest so much more than the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Where are your favorite murals in Europe? Is there a theme in your preferences?

Belfast Ireland the murals with a political message, mainly in Catholic areas i think.
Berlin Wall murals - what's left of the wall - the East Side Gallery about a mile stretch of wall all muralled up
Luftwaffe (?)_mural in Bavaria like Omerammergau - paintings on sides of houses
But my favorites are the miles and miles of graffitied murals along train lines - some are great though most are chaff - brightens up drab industrial areas!

Any others?

Any others? How about the immense one in Dresden covering a city block's worth of wall?

Wow, Grasshopper, you're so cool! I'm going to have to give this some thought. I love the rood screen paintings in Santa Maria Degli Angioli in Lugano. On the other hand, I have to confess that I'm enchanted by the exterior paintings of Mittenwald and Stein am Rhein. Obviously, we're talking two entirely different genres here. And before I die I hope to see every Byzantine fresco in the Greek Island chapels. Later, J.

J, Now THAT's a goal I can admire. Looking forward to hearing more.

Aren't there a number of areas, ie. Lyon, that have those "trompe de l'oiel" (sp!) murals..?

Grasshopper, if you like the Last Judgment, it doesn't get any better than the San Brizio Chapel of the Orvieto Duomo. The whole thing is astounding, with sci-fi-like end of the world cataclysm, the resurrected dead rising straight out of the earth, and a rare image of the anti-Christ preaching to the crowds.

Check it out here:
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/s/signorel/brizio/
(wow, this looks like a very nifty website which I will have to explore further!)

(My true favorite murals, however, are those painted by Diego Rivera at the Ministry of Education in Mexico City.)

Marilyn, Did you catch the Frida Kohlo documentary on PBS Thursday night? I wonder if there are any of Diego's murals left in San Francisco.

I'm afraid I missed it. Was it good?

I believe there are a few Rivera murals here, but I haven't tracked them down. A quick Googling indicates 4 in SF.

Wow! This is great. I have my new screensaver! :-D

Did you check out that website? I am stunned and thrilled! I could spend the whole day looking around!

Yes! Thank you. I love the close up detail.

Watch for that Kohlo program, it was excellent. I'm going to stop plucking my eyebrows! I think I'll go find a mural or two of Diego's today (while the sun still shines)!

Well? Did you?

Now here's probably the only reason I'd return to Rome (no offense intended):

http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/c/cavallin/lastjudg/

If you can access the site, click on the first thumbnail of the Last Judgement. It takes my breath away. The church is (I think) Saint Cecilia in Trastevere. And, no, I've never seen it in person. Grasshopper, this is a wonderful thread. I hope Ingo sees it when he returns home from Sils. J.

Hello Grasshopper and Jmw! I am back - but have not yet much time to spend on the fodors.

I am glad I saw this thread. Isn't it funny that PalQ mentioned the mural in Dresden? Btw, it is a work of Meissen porcelain, originally a sgraffito (and thus not colorful) but due to pollution results it was redone in the early 20th century with the decorated tiles.

Another thought: I hope to see the mural in Santa Maria degli Angioli soon :)

Happy Easter!

I loved the Frida Kahlo documentary the other night. Had never seen that one. We went to a Kahlo exhibit (which also included Riveras and other Mexican artists) in Reno a year or so ago. It was the inaugral exhibit at the new Reno Museum of Art. Absolutely loved it!

If I'm not mistaken one of the Rivera murals is somewhere at San Francisco City College. Itoo am interested in tracking down the four in the City.

Just found the following website, but haven't checked it out yet:

http://www.sanfrancisco.com/attractions/murals.shtml

I loved the murals in the "town hall" in Sienna that showed what happens when there is "Good" government and what happens when there is "Bad" government!

Not my "favorite," but really unusual: the whole town of Dozza in Emilia-Romagna is painted with murals.

More on Dozza: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451773

Almost any Metro station in Moscow!

There is a tiny church in the Swiss hillside village of Carona. It is a small, simple church with the most gorgeous frescoes and beautiful light coming in through the unstained windows. I can't find any reference to it online, so maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but in my memory, it was beautiful!

Hi Sunny, any chance you remember the name of the church? Ingo, do you know? (He's mentioned Carona previously at one of the SGFTWLS threads.) I immediately got out my old Phaidon Cultural Guide to Switzerland (By the way, if you can find second hand copies of any of those guides, they are excellent.), and there are a couple of churches mentioned, parish church of St. George and Church of Santa Marta, both with frescos. I absolutely must go there. J.

oops, also a pilgrimage church of Santa Maria d'Ongero in the woods.

I just happened to catch the Frida documentary early this morning. Glad you mentioned it here, Grasshopper, or I might have surfed right on by it. I enjoyed it and it was very well done.

JMW, I'm afraid I don't remember the name of the church since I was there almost 20 years ago. :) I question my memory because I spent a good 20 minutes Googling and this was the only thing I could find:
switzerland.isyours.com/e/guide/ticino/lugano.town.html

That page mentions a couple of churches in the Lugano area with frescoes but none in Carona. But I could swear we were wandering around Carona (we didn't have much time there) and we sort of stumbled upon this little church. I would love to return someday. That was one of the most beautiful parts of the world I've ever visited.