Restored angel fresco resembling Italian PM Meloni sparks investigation

Church and government officials are investigating after claims the face of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had been painted on an angel during the restoration of a fresco in Rome.

Italy’s culture ministry sent officers to inspect the artwork in a chapel of the Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina, while the Diocese of Rome expressed its “disappointment” and said it would determine who had been responsible.

The artist, Bruno Valentinetti, said he had simply restored the fresco he painted in 2000 and denied modelling the angel after the prime minister.

Meloni responded in a post on Instagram saying she was “definitely not like an angel”, accompanied by a laughing emoji.

The apparent likeness was first reported on Saturday by Italian newspaper La Repubblica, which ran before-and-after pictures of the fresco and claimed the angel holding a map of Italy had previously looked like a “generic cherub”.

The parish priest said the paintings had simply been touched up following recent water damage – but said he did not “understand the fuss” in any case.

“Painters used to put all sorts of things in frescoes,” Monsignor Daniele Micheletti said.

Valentinetti, 83, denied the claims. “The restored face is the one that was painted 25 years ago,” he said, in remarks reported by news agency AGI.

“Who says it resembles Meloni?”

Opposition parties were quick to urge an investigation. Irene Manzi of the Democratic Party called the situation “unacceptable” while the Five Star Movement said art must not become “a tool for propaganda”, whether or not it depicted Meloni.

Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli ordered “technical officials” to inspect the painting “to ascertain the nature of the intervention” and determine next steps.

The Diocese of Rome, meanwhile, said it knew about the restoration but that it had been told nothing would be added or changed.

“The modification of the cherub’s face was the decorator’s initiative, not communicated to the competent authorities,” it said in a statement shared by news agency Ansa.

It later said the Cardinal Baldo Reina – the Pope’s Vicar for the Diocese of Rome – would immediately investigate “to determine the possible responsibilities of those involved”.

It said the cardinal “distances himself from Monsignor Micheletti’s statements and expresses his disappointment over what happened” and stated its “commitment to the protection of its artistic and spiritual heritage” against misuse or exploitation.