Why Maradona is the Patron Saint of Naples
How his ongoing veneration still matters in Southern Italy
I am in the National Archeological Museum of Naples with our tour guide Luca viewing the spectacular mosaics and frescos recovered from nearby Pompeii when a larger-than-life bronze in the museum’s courtyard catches my eye.
It appears to be part man, part gladiator, and part god, holding a fist to the sky with an angelic cherub hovering behind, watching over him.
And contrary to, say, the museum’s 15-foot-high, 1,800–year–old marble statue of Roman Emperor Alexander Severus — or virtually everything else in this remarkable museum — this bronze looks rather modern.
I interrupt Luca mid-sentence, point to the bronze, and say, “Hey, Luca, what’s that?”
Luca turns, smiles, and says in his heavy Italian accent, “Oh, that-a? That-a is Maradona.”
Huh? What? I think. Maradona the soccer player? Here amid statues of emperors and gods in the courtyard of one of Western Civilization’s greatest museums?
Instead, I simply say, “You mean Maradona, Maradona?”
“Yes, of course,” Luca says. “Unless you are from Naples, this statue here in this great museum doesn’t make sense. But if you are from Naples or know the…
