The face of an angel who appeared to resemble Italy’s right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has been removed from a fresco in a Rome church after complaints from Vatican officials.
The image appeared in a chapel of the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina, where artist Bruno Valentinetti restored a fresco he originally painted in 2000. Valentinetti initially denied that the angel bore any resemblance to Meloni. He said the recent intervention was a necessary conservation effort after water damage, a claim echoed by the parish priest, Monsignor Daniele Michelett, in comments to the BBC.
The likeness was first reported earlier this month by La Repubblica, which noted that the angel, depicted holding a map of Italy, had previously featured a more generic cherubic face. Speaking to the newspaper on February 5, Valentinetti later acknowledged the resemblance, saying, “Okay, it was Meloni, but along the lines of the painting that was there before.”
The angel’s face was erased last week after Italy’s culture ministry and the diocese of Rome opened an inquiry into the work. The Five Star Movement, a political party opposed to Meloni’s government, weighed in on the controversy, warning that art should not become “a tool for propaganda.”
Valentinetti said he removed the image at the Vatican’s request. “I covered the face because the Vatican told me to,” he said. “The Curia wanted it that way, and I erased it.” In a statement, the Vicariate of Rome said the angel’s features “did not conform to the original iconography and the sacred context.”
Italy’s culture ministry also issued a statement last Wednesday, noting that any further restoration work in the church would require formal authorization from the Religious Buildings Fund of the Interior Ministry, which owns the property. Approval will also be required from the Vicariate and Rome’s Special Superintendency, accompanied by preparatory sketches.
Meloni herself addressed the episode with humour, posting on Instagram that she was “definitely not like an angel,” followed by a laughing emoji.
