El Salvador’s Mona Lisa gets a colourful makeover in a 13‑metre mural made from recycled caps | World News
A new Mona Lisa has appeared in El Salvador. But this isn’t Leonardo da Vinci’s original. Instead, it seems a local twist has been added, in more ways than one. A towering 13-metre mural now dominates a building in Zacamil, a working-class area of San Salvador. And it’s made entirely from recycled plastic bottle caps, more colourful, bold, a little playful.It’s a statement about community, creativity, and maybe even redemption. People in the neighbourhood helped gather the caps, washing and sorting them for months.
Latin American Mona Lisa comes to life with 100,000 plastic caps
The artist behind it is Venezuelan Óscar Olivares. At 29, he’s already painted murals across Venezuela, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Italy. It’s a Latin American Mona Lisa, he says, and it’s not just a portrait. As reported by AFP News Agency X post, this 13-meter artwork is regarded as the world’s tallest bottle-cap mural. This isn’t your usual Renaissance painting. Olivares wanted a Mona Lisa with Latin features, black hair, a colourful dress, earrings, and a necklace. Her gaze is slightly in profile, piercing. Experts say the piece nods to pointillism, inspired by Paul Signac, but with a modern twist.About 100,000 plastic caps were picked out of the trash, reportedly. Every cap tells a story, every hand that touched it leaves a mark. People in Zacamil, once troubled by gang activity, now have something else to focus on, something colourful.
Plastic Mona Lisa brings colour and hope to Zacamil community
In the past, graffiti often marked territory, Olivares says. Now, urban art seems to mean something else. It’s about pride, creativity, and maybe hope. Olivares hopes are twofold. One, people see the Mona Lisa in a new light. Two, they see plastic waste differently. Ordinary trash, turned into art. Something vibrant, something worth attention.The piece reinterprets the Mona Lisa with a Latin American identity and pays tribute to Salvadoran women.
