Street Art in Milan: 5 murals you should see

When you think of Milan, the modern, innovative city full of museums and art galleries immediately comes to your mind. But why don't we focus instead on the art that we find on the walls of the city? In this article we hope to make you discover the Street Art in Milan and 5 unmissable murals.

Let's start with a mural that makes a sort of carousel on Milanese history by paying homage to its fundamental characters. "Milano Street Hi-Story" created by Acme 107, Encs, Gatto Nero, Gatto Max, Gep, Gianbattista Leoni, Kasy 23, Luca Zammarchi, Mr. Blob, Neve and 750ml found right next to the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Corso di Porta Ticinese.

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The murals have to be read from right to left and the first character who appears is Sant’Ambrogio, Bishop of Milan and patron of the city. At his side the terrible Attila, king of the Huns, who entered the city without finding resistance and, according to some sources, lived in the ancient Imperial Palace. Next we find Charlemagne, with whom the Carolingian dynasty begins. Next to him is the great Leonardo, the two families of the Visconti and the Sforza, Alessandro Manzoni, Giuseppe Verdi and Napoleone Bonaparte. Finally a chessboard, placed right in San Lorenzo that marks the checkmate that in 1945 ended the Second World War. To close it all off, a modern Madonna dei Writers. This is one of the many murals that are part of the stages of our tour on the Navigli, about we also talked in this article.

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The second mural we absolutely want to talk about is “Music is a neverending journey". This mural is 400 square meters large and is dedicated to the universe of music. While looking at it, it almost seems to take a virtual journey through the genres and musical instruments that are represented as constellations. The work was created by the collective of artists Orticanoodles and sees as its main subject a human heart, a symbol of life and emotions, placed at the center of a cosmos made of music: it represents the freedom to fully experience your emotions. The idea is wonderful and the message it conveys can only generate positive energy. To admire it in a different guise and take a more suggestive atmosphere, just go and see it in the evening; it was made with special fluorescent paints that make the work even more similar to a starry sky!

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We keep this positive energy and move on to the third work of Street Art in Milan that we want to show you. These are “Love Seeker and Heart Slingshot”, made by Millo. The mural is located in the Garden of Cultures, an area that has been redeveloped and which has the aim of being a place for gathering and meeting. The work represents a figure in search of love, a giant who moves between the city walking through buildings and streets where life proceeds normally. On our tour in Corso XXII Marzo we bring you right in this area and to see this beautiful mural!

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Another area that has been redeveloped thanks to an artistic project is the Ortica district. This peripheral area of ​​Milan is living a second life thanks to the intervention and initiatives of artists such as the Orticanoodles who have decorated and enriched the walls with art and beauty since 2017 with "ORME Ortica Memoria". The Ortica district is a real open-air museum that tells the history of Milan through different murals with various themes. Let's dwell on the mural “Ortica viene da Orto”, in via ortica 12. A real dedication to the neighborhood in which it was made, dedicated to the past of Ortica and what life was like there before the factories and railways. Colorful and with a profound meaning, with red poppies to indicate the victims of the world wars that shocked the twentieth century. The goal is to link the past to the present, living this art as a way to revive the neighborhood. We are fond of this neighborhood, in fact we also created Ortica: tra storie e Street Artjust to discover the area together with Elena Stafanothat we interviewed some time ago.

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Returning to the area Navigli there is another mural to talk about. In 2014, 4 murals were created on the occasion of the "Bridge Festival", one of which is “Lo squalo”, by Marco Teatro between Via Ascanio Sforza and Via Giuseppe Lagrange. 8 Street Art artists took part in this initiative, who gave the city their art and decorated two bridges of the Naviglio Pavese with their style.

I hope that in one of the next city walks you will go to see one, or why not, all these murals because they are truly wonderful!

Written by Clara Redaelli