A View of Tuscany

John J. Muzi, owner of the legendary Philip’s Restaurant (the site of the mural) applied to the Mural Arts Program to create a mural that depicted an Italian garden and landscape. Mr. Muzi, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1959 with a bachelor of fine arts degree, had an extensive art collection and helped the artist to vision the mural. Sadly, Mr. Muzi died of heart disease while the mural was still in the process of being painted. His interest and enthusiasm for art and for the mural project was contagious and made a lasting impression on all who met and worked with him on the project.

The griffin at bottom left of the mural is the mythological part eagle-part lion which is the emblem of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.