It just isn’t often political leaders are portrayed as angels – often quite the alternative.
That’s possibly why an almighty row has broken out in Italy over a church fresco which looks suspiciously like Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
A painting within the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome, was spotted withthe striking resemblance after undergoing repairs.
The artwork portrays Umberto II, who reigned as Italy’s final king for just 34 days, and is supposed to feature two cherub-like angels watching over him.
The newspaper La Repubblica, who first reported on the angel, said: ‘Before the restoration, there was a generic cherub. Today, it’s the face of probably the most powerful woman within the country.’
The volunteer restorer who freshened up the fresco denied depicting Meloni and said he was just restoring ‘what was there 25 years ago’.
Bruno Valentinetti said: ‘They asked me to repair it and I did. I worked on it for 2 years and finished the work a 12 months ago.’
He stressed ‘it’s not Meloni’ and described how he ‘traced’ the outline of’original design’ and ‘put the color back in’.
The church’s rector Monsignor Daniele Micheletti said he had asked for the chapel to be restored exactly because it was.
He said on Saturday: ‘I went to see the restoration this morning.
‘There’s indeed a certain resemblance, but we should always ask the restorer why he did it that way; I don’t know.’
Father Micheletti said the restoration was needed as a consequence of water damage, and that it dated back to 2000 so was not under heritage protection.
Nevertheless Italian authorities have launched an investigation into what happened and members of the opposition have even called for an inquiry.
One opposition lawmaker, Irene Manzi, called the touch-up ‘unacceptable’.
The Five Star Movement party said: ‘We cannot allow art and culture to risk becoming a tool for propaganda or anything, no matter whether the face depicted is that of the prime minister.’
Meloni herself has laughed off the controversy, posting an image of the fresco on Instagram and commenting: ‘No, I’m definitely not like an angel.’
Italy’s authorities for shielding cultural heritage, the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio, said they might be inspecting the restoration.
They added: ‘We’ll compare it with archive materials to find out not a lot who the restoration resembles, but whether any changes have been made, since the restorer would have needed to follow the unique lines.’
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