Graffiti and Street Art in Rome

Far from the taint of dilapidation that a graffiti-covered building might bear in British and American cities, graffiti is a commonplace and accepted ornament to even the most beautiful buildings in Rome.

Graffiti, ranging from primitive scribbles on walls to elaborate murals, has long been a part of Roman life. The word “graffiti” derives from the Italian, “graffiato“, which means scratched.

Some of the earliest examples of graffiti date back to the Roman Empire, when young men and soldiers would scratch messages onto walls, usually vulgar notes or boastful challenges to opponents.

The tradition lives on in modern Rome, where the messages differ little from those of their predecessors.

For the most part, Roman graffiti is fairly elementary, consisting mostly of tags on the sides of buildings, but there are a few examples of impressive and intricate graffiti that can be considered veritable street art. 

The tradition of street art in Rome owes a lot not only to the city’s high art culture, but also to the Roman spirit of dissent and rebellion. Throughout the city, particularly in working-class neighborhoods such as San Lorenzo, much of the graffiti carry either overt or implicit political messages. Ironically, in these areas, graffiti has been embraced by local businesses, with bar and store owners actively endorsing street artists and allowing them to decorate storefronts so that the graffiti is no longer an act of vandalism, but a recognized means of creative expression.

In Rome, as elsewhere, the government has not always looked kindly on graffiti artists. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, has long expressed his distaste for the graffiti in Rome, vocally denouncing the practice. In an attempt to discourage graffiti as a form of defacement, the government has instituted a series of designated walls for graffiti where experienced artists can display their work. There have also been efforts in recent years to clean the graffiti off the Rome metro trains. However, graffiti lives on the eternal city, much to the chagrin of many tourists and residents. Regardless of whether you are a graffiti enthusiast or not, the presence of graffiti in Rome serves as a necessary reminder the city is not, and cannot be, a living museum, where everything is preserved to perfection. The city is alive with colorful characters, dissenting voices and would-be artists making their mark on the eternal city the way their ancestors did thousands of years before.

While searching for an apartment in Rome don’t be restrained by the presence of graffiti as graffiti are not at all synonymous of ill-famed, notorius or unsafe area.