Largest mural by one artist decorates prison walls with messages of freedom and hope

An artist sent a beautiful message of hope by decorating the exterior walls of a prison in a record-breaking mural.

Alessandro Ciambrone (Italy) painted the world’s largest mural by one artist on the sides of Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison in Caserta, Italy.

Verified as a record on 4 June, the work measured 5,441.93 m² (58,576 ft² 63 in²) and covered two of the building’s four walls.

It’s 770 m (2,526 ft) long and 5.2 m (17 ft) high.

Alessandro described it as a “universal message of freedom, contrast to violence, human rights, and enhancement of cultural heritage”.

He said: “The wall is a symbol in which the hopes and ambitions of young people and prisoners are reflected for a future of freedom. I decided to participate in the GWR because the message of my mural has a universal value that only the GWR record can transmit to the world."

The mural, which was approved by the Ministry of Justice’s Donatella Rotundo, director of the prison, is made up of images of UNESCO World Heritage sites from every continent.

It also include quotes from artists, such as painters, movie directors, musicians and designers, as well as Nobel Prize winners.

Alessandro broke a record that had stood since 2009. That mural was much smaller, measuring 1,678.43 m² (18,066.4 ft²).

Eroica Fenice reports that Ms Rotundo wanted to transform the prison into a place that would guarantee the “dignity of its inmates”, and that as part of her work, she had also authorized the construction of a restaurant that would be run by the inmates and open to the public.

That means any tourists who go along to see the mural can head into the restaurant afterwards for a bite to eat.

The report added that Alessandro’s design was transferred to the prison walls by a team of university students, chosen in a competition that was open to those studying architecture and engineering at Italian universities.