‘Good deeds should be done in silence’: Meet the anti-graffiti artist working in secret to clean the walls of Brescia

He goes by the name of Ghost Pitùr – but it’s tough trying to get more personal details out of him. Born and bred in the northern Italian city of Brescia and in his thirties, he’s a professional painter by day and a crusader against the scourge of graffiti by night. Often wearing a hoodie, he goes out under the cover of darkness to repaint buildings that have been defaced. His motivation? Returning what he calls “visual harmony” to the Lombardian city that he loves.

Is he the anti-Banksy, armed with a paintbrush rather than spray cans? He sees some similarities, though he’s keen to point out that he isn’t an artist. “Just like Banksy, my message is crucial,” he tells Monocle. “I am criticising how and why so many buildings have been ruined and defaced with graffiti that has nothing artistic about it. The façades of houses are not canvases; they are not spaces designed to be written on. They were built and painted with care, work, effort and sacrifice – and for this reason, they must be respected.”

Irked by the “presumptuousness and arrogance” of those who choose to scrawl on a wall, he’s keen to carry out his act of urban love incognito – which might explain why he gets cold feet and backs out of a face-to-face meeting with Monocle. He says that he hopes to inspire other people to act like him, even while his identity remains a mystery.

“Anonymity is very important to me,” he says. “Mainly because I believe that good deeds should be done in silence, without profit and without wanting to get anything in return.”