Meet a real American gladiator

Luca Zanna in Rome, working as mock Gladiator

When I came across an image of a heavily armed man, painting blissfully, while Italian love songs wafted from the screen – I was curious. Who wouldn't be?

The armored artist was Luca Zanna, seeded in Rome, but a product of American philosophy. A man of many arts and trades, his websites describe him as a "songwriter, music producer, artist, Italian cook, windsurf instructor, internet developer, Constitutional rights activist, rifleman, gladiator fighter, gun expert, Minuteman, Oathkeeper, and romantic poet." For a start.

Zanna painted in oils as a very young man. Since then, he has bounced around almost all forms of the arts in one way or another, combining them with entrepreneurial zest and raw energy.

Raised in Anzio, Italy, Zanna was surrounded by tokens of WWII – such as cemeteries of American soldiers. He grew up appreciating American GIs who liberated Europe, as well as having a keen interest in our Constitutional government. Zanna compared himself to the exiled 12th-century poet, Dante, as another Italian poet in exile, but this time in America.

Stymied by Italy's legal strictures, Zanna immigrated to America in 1998. He complained of being swallowed by crushing global socialism in his birth country, and hoped to find a complete change here. Zanna says he wasn't at all disappointed by America, even with its faults. And to a modern "gladiator," the access to guns is a special joy.

"I wanted to be allowed to choose, to make mistakes and learn from them – to create my own destiny – by myself!" Awed by the U.S. Constitution, Zanna insists that "even the worst buffoon in office can't destroy this nation," thanks to the Bill of Rights.

Zanna as Roman poet / and as armed monk in America

Music usurped his heart, and has become Zanna's chief form of expression. He has written and produced more than 100 songs, and plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, bass and harmonica. His love song, "Chiara," is a typical light rock melody, with a little Italian passion and angst.

Since landing in the U.S., his ballads are less about young lovers making out in the Piazza di Spagna and more focused on politics. Zanna joined patriotic movements even before he was a citizen here, and seems devoted to the cause. "Politics means your freedom, your life and how you live it," he claims.

Pondering how he could "befriend this Republic," Zanna asked himself: "Can music do this?" Since then, he has written albums of modern, hardcore, patriotic music. An early one is a tribute from an Italian to U.S. troops, "Thank You, America." His catchy "Don't Tread on Us" received quite a bit of attention, and was used in a few films. Lyrics are bluntly right-wing, explicit in their message, and quite confrontive. A few lines:

Don't tread on us
we're not afraid
You work for us,
we're not your slaves.

Zanna isn't merely a troubadour and occasional artist for freedom. He protests government overreach across the states. His "Religion of Freedom" website invites viewers to respect individual religions, but reserves the right to "say whatever we d**n please and the IRS may rot in hell."

Recently, Zanna developed new versions of "multi-media" art – a form less digital, and more "multi" than most. One of these is his use of guns as an extended paintbrush, creating a political statement in itself. I asked him to tell us the story behind this.

Luca Zanna paints with Glock-17/ One of his works

Creating with a gun is unexpected, Zanna explains, and makes people stop and think. "My brush is the extension of my gun, and my gun is the extension of my soul . . . used to defend my person, innocents and freedom." He uses a Glock-17 here, because it seems to fit standard brushes better than most.

When asked if this was merely a photo op, Zanna swore he had created several paintings in this manner: using a weaponized brush for the rough mass of color in some paintings, and more traditional tools for detailed work.

One of the rarest objects Zanna sells is his gladiator gear – the real thing, or as close as he can get in the 21st century. These are hand-made leather and metal items, which he first concocted while touring Italy and staging live "gladiator" fights and Roman wrestling. Some metal ornaments are directly cast from ancient items he accessed in Italy.

Zanna found another occasion to gear-up gladiator style, in Baldwin Park, California, in 2005. As a member of a patriot group, they confronted 800 angry Mexicans over public art in a Metrolink Station, specifically the monument "Danza Indigenas" which declared across a high arch: "This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again." The city commissioned artist Judy Baca to create the structure, evoking the "historic San Gabriel Mission" and diverse community.

Luca Zanna in Arizona

After fleeing California in disgust, Zanna now calls Arizona home. It's yet another state Latino activists are claiming, although it officially belonged to Mexico for only 26 years. In a spirit of fairness, most Southwestern states should be offered to Spain first. After all, they controlled much of it for centuries.

Zanna recalls the sound of his grandfather singing this song about Arizona – "Il Tango delle Capinere":

Down there in Arizona,
land of dreams and chimeras,
if a guitar sounds,
thousands of larks sing.

They have brown hair,
they have the fever in their heart,
who goes looking for fortune
will find love.

Artist/activist Luca Zanna, can be found on his radio show "Love, guns and freedom" on KTOX 1340 AM. If you need art, gladiator wristbands, or leather cuirasses, look here.