About Murals

Murals are large scale paintings which are applied directly to walls, ceilings, and many other large flat surfaces. They are presumed to be the oldest human art form, as cave paintings at numerous ancient human settlements suggest, and can be found all over the world.   A wide variety of artistic styles are used in mural painting, and some (usually Trompe L'oeil murals) incorporate the use of techniques which create a  sense of dramatic scale and amazing depth.
A mural is usually commissioned by either a patron, a corporation, a government or an institution, because it obviously represents a costly endeavor.  For this reason, murals are often found in places like public and private schools, government buildings, and on the outside of buildings in urban, suburban and rural areas. Murals and the people who create them often become well known, due to the large scale and themes.  (Leonardo da Vinci and Diego Rivera were both muralists.  Michelangelo was also.)   Qualified  muralists demonstrate a remarkably wide range of skills required to meet the special needs of murals.
Classically, a mural is applied directly to a prepared surface such as a fresco, as was used in the Sistine Chapel.   Fresco is a wet plaster to which pigments are added. As the pigments dry, they fade slightly, but also bond with the plaster.  A team of artists, as small as two and as many as several dozen, works on the mural under the supervision of a master artist, whose job it is to follow project details through and to direct individual artists so that the style of the mural appears unified.

Mural History

There have been murals on walls throughout the world  for as long as there have been people on Earth.  People scratched them, carved them, etched them and painted them.  The history of murals and mural painting is rich and varied, from the prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux, France, to the celebratory and ceremonial murals of ancient Egypt, Rome, Mesopotamia, Greece and India.
According to art historians, mural painting dates back at least 30,000 years to cave paintings.   (Other historians credit the Minoans and the Etruscans.)  Some of these impressive works have been preserved, thankfully, by the very caves which they inhabit.   These ancient murals typically depict the activities of a particular civilization‘s people, encapsulating a moment in time, and range from scenes of hunting, gathering, and family life, to religious and funerary scenes.
An interesting evolution continues in the world of murals.  New ones are continually being commissioned and created while old ones are constantly being rediscovered and restored (i.e. ca. 100 AD  Mayan wall paintings at the remote ruins of El Petén and San Bartolo in Guatemala, which were discovered fairly recently in March 2001).
The purpose of murals varies from culture to culture, and from time period to time period.  Several examples follow.  Many murals in the Tibetan world, both ancient and contemporary, are created as part of meditative and reflective Buddhist practices.  During the Baroque period in France, Germany and England, rich art patrons and royalty had Biblical and allegorical murals painted on the ceilings and of their luxurious homes and palaces. Patrons often had themselves painted into the mural, as a way of capturing their likenesses for all time.


Mural art appears on the walls and ceilings of interior and exterior spaces, ranging from palaces, temples, and tombs, to museums, libraries, churches, and other public buildings. In our more contemporary era, murals have found their way onto a large variety of surfaces. 
An important point to finish this section with: Good mural artists will consider their mural in relation to the mural's natural or architectural setting, allowing the piece to become an aesthetic, social, and most importantly, cultural, artifact.


Definition:  A mural is any artwork painted directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface.

Even More About Murals

Murals date to Upper Paleolithic times, such as the paintings in the Chevaux Cave in Ardeche (southern France) around 30.000 BC.  Ancient murals have also survived in Egyptian tombs circa 3150 BC, the Minoan palaces from the Neopalatial period circa  1700-1600 BC, and in Pompeii circa 100 BC to 79 CE (AD).   These ancient murals were ‘painted’ with whatever materials, always natural, were available at the time.
Murals today are painted in a variety of traditional and non-traditional ways, using oil or water-based media, and vary in style from abstract to trompe l’oeil.  Mural painting itself has experienced an amazing renaissance in private residences and public buildings especially in North America (particularly the United States), Europe and South America.  Murals have a dramatic impact whether consciously or subconsciously on the attitudes of viewers.  Furthermore, the presence of large murals adds emotional quality to the daily lives those who have the priveledge of vie.wing it
Many people like to express their individuality by commissioning an artist to paint a mural in their home.  Interestingly, this is an ctivit noy exclusively for owners of large houses. Patrons around the world find that murals open up smaller spaces within, say, a pied-a-terre, which can often feel cramped.  Think of a mural on the wall of a residence in a city like New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Paris, or Rome.  Since a mural artist is only limited by the fee and therefore the time spent on the painting which dictates the level of detail, a simple or complex mural can be added to the largest or smallest of walls.
Murals can be for Great Rooms, Living Rooms, Bedrooms, Dining Rooms i.e. Fifth Avenue Terrace (pictured below), Bathrooms, Solariums, Breakfast Rooms i.e. The Sound, Parlors, Private Offices i.e. Tropical Chappler... the list goes on and on.  The current trend for feature walls has increased commissions for muralists worldwide.  A large hand-painted mural can be designed on a specific theme, incorporate personal images and elements and may be altered during the course of painting. The personal interaction between client and muralist is often a unique experience for an individual not usually involved in the arts.

Thank you.
All images and text  © 1985-2012  Eric  Jonsson,  All rights reserved.
A Brief History of Murals and Mural Painting

BY ERIC JONSSON
j  o  n  s  s  o  n
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THE ART