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Italy’s culture minister and the diocese of Rome have launched investigations after claims were made that an angel in a landmark church in Rome was restored in the likeness of the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
The resemblance was first flagged by the newspaper La Repubblica, who noted that one of the two angels flanking a marble bust of Italy’s last king in the Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina now had “a familiar, astonishingly contemporary face”.
It added: “Before the restoration, there was a generic cherub. Today, it is the face of the most powerful woman in the country.”
The front-page story set off a flurry of reactions. The country’s ministry of culture said that technicians had been immediately dispatched to carry out an inspection of the winged figure. They had been told to “establish the nature of the work carried out,” it said in a statement, and would “decide what action to take”.
As before-and-after photos made the rounds on social media, Meloni also weighed in, seemingly poking fun at the curious controversy. On Instagram, she posted a picture of the restored angel, adding: “No, I definitely do not look like an angel,” alongside a laughing emoji.
Reporters rushed to the basilica, whose roots trace back to the fourth century, to get a sense of what exactly had transpired. “There is indeed a certain resemblance, but you would have to ask the restorer why it was done that way,” the parish priest of the basilica, Daniele Micheletti, told the news agency Ansa. “I asked for the chapel to be restored exactly as it was, I don’t know.”
He said the restoration had been needed after the chapel containing the painting sustained water damage. The original painting dated back to the year 2000, meaning it was not under any sort of heritage protection, he added.
He also defended the sacristan who had carried out the restoration. “He’s not a house painter; he’s very good,” he said.
Opposition politicians were swift to take aim. “What has emerged is unacceptable,” Irene Manzi, of the centre-left Partito Democratico, said in a statement that called for an investigation into whether the restoration had breached heritage regulations.
Members of the Five Star Movement pointed to the wider implications. “We cannot allow art and culture to risk becoming a tool for propaganda or anything else, regardless of whether the face depicted is that of the prime minister.
The Diocese of Rome said its vicar general, Baldassare Reina, had expressed “disappointment” over what had happened and would “immediately initiate the necessary investigations” to determine who was responsible. “It is firmly reiterated that images of sacred art and Christian tradition cannot be misused or exploited, as they are intended exclusively to support liturgical life and personal and communal prayer,” it said in a statement.
As images of the restoration fuelled debate across the country, reporters lined up to speak with the octogenarian pensioner behind the revamp. “They asked me to fix it, and I did,” said Bruno Valentinetti. “I worked on it for two years and finished the work a year ago.”
He said he had simply restored the paintings to their original state. “Many things had disappeared. In restoration, you strip away the layers and the original design reappears. I traced it and put the colour back in. The design was ruined, but I managed to recover the outline and traced it,” he said.
Valentinetti said he had carried out the work with the blessing of the parish priest. “I live here. I’m a craftsman. I volunteered to show gratitude to the priest for hosting me,” he said.
He denied reports of being linked to rightwing politics in the past – saying he couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had voted – and repeatedly shot down any suggestion of a likeness to the prime minister. “It’s not Meloni,” he said. “I restored the faces to how they were 25 years ago.”
In another interview with La Repubblica, Valentinetti noted that the swirling debate over the painting had come with an upside. “In the past years we’ve never seen so many people in this church.”
