The wall mural depicts a scene among ancient ruins and today the very building that houses it has also fallen into a state of disrepair.
Villa Sbertoli was built in the early 1800s by wealthy merchant Agostino Sbertoli. According to some sources he decided to turn the villa into a psychiatric hospital because he had a disabled son, whom he tried to cure all his life. On his death bed he decided to devote all his possessions to a charity for the mentally ill, even their, so that his son could feel at home. It was inaugurated as a psychiatric hospital in 1868.
During World War II it was used by the Nazis to hold prisoners but afterwards was sold to the province and used as a psychiatric hospital again. In 1978 "Law Basaglia" (a reform of the Italian psychiatric system) was passed and the hospital was forced to close and by 1990 was abandoned completely. Today it's still semi-abandoned but the city of Pistoia is attempting to revitalize the area.
Once upon a time.
The second mural is barely visible today but in the screenshot below it shows how it used to be.
Entrance to the driveway on google streetview:
The present day photos are by Alex Doomer, more here: Link
The old photos are from this video: Link
WOW! It's in astonishingly good shape. Thanks for taking the time to compose this.
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