Naples | Eyes on the Streets

References to Diego Maradona are everywhere in Naples! Maradona (1960-2020) was a football hero to many. He joined Napoli’s football team (Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, or SSC Napoli) in 1984 and took a lacklustre team and made them winners. During the seven years that Maradona led the Naples team they won two Series A titles – the first southern Italian team to do so. His influence on Naples lives on.

below: This forty foot high mural is the center of all things Maradona. There are direction signs all over the old part of the city (Quartieri Spagnoli) showing the way to this small square. If you visit, expect to find it full of fans!

diego maradona themed street art in quatieri spagnoli in naples napoli,

Also, expect to find all kinds of tributes to Napoli’s favorite footballer all over the city.

below: Maradona is not the only player celebrated here. This mural is a tribute to Dries Mertens, “il miglior goleador” [= the best goal scorer] and “148 gol, 9 anni, di storia amore”

diers mertens, football player, themed street art in quatieri spagnoli in naples napoli,

diego maradona themed street art in quatieri spagnoli in naples napoli, maradona dressed as a bishop with staff and funny hat, bishops mitre

diego maradona themed street art in quatieri spagnoli in naples napoli, many life sized football players on a wall

below: Maradona as king, artwork by Mr. Pencil

below: Number 9 is not Maradona. The little band of yellow hair on top gives it away as Victor Osimhen, originally from Nigeria.

below: Nicely placed women beside Franco Martinez’s portrait of Maradona.

below: Another portrait of Naples most famous #10, this one by Yessica Garcia.

Photos taken February 2024

alley in old city part of Naples, stone pavement, motorbike, old murals on the wall, Toto Alley, Vico Toto, portraits of Antonio de Curtis, an actor from the 1950s and 1960s,

In the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarter) of Naples there is an alley, Vico Totò, with many portraits that pay tribute to Totò, the stage name of an Italian actor Antonio “Totò” De Curtis (1898-1967). There are several paintings of him in some of his acting roles; He appeared in 97 films in a career that spanned three decades. There are also some other actors represented here.

below: Only the top part remains – including his black bowler hat.

black and white mural, portrait of actor Toto in sunglasses at end of his nose, wearing black bowler, lower part of mural has been worn away

below: A couple stands in front of Davide Zeka’s painting ofTotò in the role of a priest.

a couple stands in front of a street art painting of an actor dressed as a Roman Catholic priest in a black and hat and white clerical collar

below: “Stu core analfabeta” This illiterate heart….

below: Michele Wuk’s ‘Totò con la papalina’ where the words say “L’educazione non passa mai di moda” (Totò with the skullcap: “Education never goes out of style”),

mural in Naples, man's portrait, of Toto the actor, beside a clothes line with laundry, also text in Italian that says L’educazione non passa mai di moda

mural tributes to Italian actor Antonio de Curtis, or Toto, in an alley in the old part of Naples,

below: Human Hero aka Luca Carnevale, Nino Taranto, another actor, as the Flash, “Flash of Genius” says the text

portrait of a man with a mustache, he's wearing red top of the Flash outfit, on orange background

below: Toto as Superman on Porta Carrese Monte Calvapio (also Human Hero)

portrait of balding man in superman top and red cape, street sign for Porta Crrese Monte Calvapio, and a one way sign,

below: Lino Ozon’s ‘Lola’ which shows Totò dressed in drag to play Lolita in the 1962 film ‘Totofraffa’. In this movie he appears in many disguises.