The background is blue, the call of the sea, that strong bond and at the same time the heritage of the Nautical Technical Institute of Porto Torres, named after Mario Paglietti.

The mural work - 180x130 - at the entrance to the school reproduces the portrait of the refined painter, born in the city of Turritana on March 18, 1865, a true tribute, a sign of cultural identity created by the hands of the talented artist Giovanni Sanna, painter and painting teacher for the school of Decoration, coordinated by Sergio Miali, professor of the Academy of Fine Arts "Mario Sironi". The self-portrait that Mario Paglietti painted in his old age was chosen to represent him in the mural that students and visitors will be able to admire in the atrium of the Nautical Institute, so as to visually recall the figure and presence of their illustrious fellow citizen who distinguished himself in the field of pictorial art. And pictorially, with the acrylic painting on the wall, reworked by the artist Giovanni Sanna - also born and resident in Porto Torres - with the collaboration of Alessandra Fiori, talented painter and student of the "Sironi" Academy, the painting appears to those who enter the school complex with a contemporary graphic design curated by Verdiana Galìa. In the leaflet created for the occasion for the public and in the mural work, respect for the artist's pictorial manner is observed, weaving the graphic signs of Paglietti's characteristic signature with his physiognomy faithfully reproduced, in a realist key as desired by the painter in his time.

The result is the link between memory and contemporary, between historical figure and current professional training, with shared ties to the city of Porto Torres and its indissoluble relationship with the sea.

The creation of the mural painting is part of the project “Inclusive Networks - For a Community School”, financed by the Fondazione di Sardegna – Call for proposals “Scuola bene comune – I annuità”, developed by the social cooperative Arl onlus Edupè. Within the project, Giovanni Sanna held some preparatory lessons for the classes of the “Paglietti” Institute, lessons dedicated to graphic design and the chromatic development of the painting.

Subsequently, on July 23 and 24, he scheduled an open workshop to show the various stages of the painting's execution and tell its story. Mario Paglietti, just twelve years old, showing a talent for drawing and painting, was sent by his family to Prato, in Tuscany, to the city's Institute of Arts and Crafts, which he attended from 1877. After completing his studies in Prato, having matured in technique, he enrolled at the "Albertina" Academy of Fine Arts in Turin, where he was a student of Giacomo Grosso. He attended the Academy for two years, from 1883 to 1885, but without obtaining an academic diploma, apparently due to being called up for military service. Despite the interruption of his studies, Paglietti participated in the 1st Sardinian Art Exhibition held in Sassari in 1896: he exhibited several paintings and received the silver medal from the jury for the work "Striking Newsmen". That recognition made Mario Paglietti known to the general Sardinian public and for the technical qualities he demonstrated, he was in fact the only true painter working in the Sassari area for many years. His image is an added value to an Institute that continues on its identity and cultural path linked to the sea.

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