Artist Domingo Zapata gets ‘blank check’ from Saudi government to paint mural visible from space

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Saudi Arabia has commissioned New York artist Domingo Zapata to create the largest mural ever made — a staggering 50,000-square-meter painting — in Riyadh.

That’s about 540,000 square feet, or about nine football fields.

Domingo Zapata has already painted a huge mural in New York. WireImage
He plans for the Saudi Arabian mural to be by far his biggest yet. Getty Images

We’re told the nation’s Ministry of Culture has given him an “unlimited budget” for the project, which is expected to be visible from space and to take four to six years to complete.

Zapata — who has painted stars including Kim Kardashian and Sofia Vergara, and painted with the last pope — told Page Six the project will be his “magna opera,” and likely his last mural. (He previously completed massive murals in Times Square and Miami.)

“It’s more than just a painting. It’s a declaration of humanity, of love, understanding, union and progress,” he said.

Saudi Arabia is said to have written a “blank check” for the project. REUTERS

He said it would be “the Middle Eastern version of the Sistine Chapel,” with more than 100 artists, engineers and architects collaborating on the work.

He expects to spend four to six year in the Middle Eastern country. NurPhoto via Getty Images

“We’re mixing cultures, mixing energies, mixing passion, mixing expressionism, mixing love,” he said.

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