Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy
An art conservator in Italy is coming under fire after an angel in a restored fresco now bears an uncanny resemblance to the country’s current far-right prime minister, Georgia Meloni.
San Lorenzo in Lucina is a Catholic basilica in the center of Rome. While a church has existed on the site since the fourth century CE, the current structure dates to the seventeenth century. It contains several notable works of art, including Guido Reni’s crucifixion altarpiece and a marble bust by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Furthermore, the great French Baroque painter Nicolas Poussin is buried in one of the chapels. The last chapel on the right side of the church, closest to the altar, is sometimes called the Cappella Nataletti, named after the wealthy family that leased it in the nineteenth century. The chapel features a large seventeenth-century painted wooden crucifix and a Madonna & Child painting by Onofrio Avellino. The chapel also features a memorial to Umberto II, the last King of Italy.
In 1946, Italy held a referendum on whether to retain or abolish the monarchy. Umberto’s father, King Victor Emmanuel III, had abdicated to give the institution a better shot at survival. This was a prudent move, as his reign was tainted by his embrace of Benito Mussolini. But it was not enough. The electorate voted 54% in favor of a republic, abolishing the monarchy. Umberto spent the rest of his life in Portugal. The chapel’s memorial includes a marble bust of the king and surrounding frescoes. These include a pair of angels, one with a crown and the other with a scroll showing the outline of Italy. The angel with the scroll is the figure that resembled the current prime minister.
Meloni is the leader of the right-wing nationalist party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy). She is the first female leader in Italy’s modern history, and her premiership has been described as the most right-wing government the country has had since the Second World War. Her party can be traced directly to Mussolini, descending from the Movimento Sociale Italiano, founded by former fascists after the Second World War. Meloni has habitually violated civil liberties, particularly of non-citizens, queer people, and the press. Her government has banned surrogacy, opposed the implementation of hate speech legislation, and has been seeking a constitutional ban on same-sex adoption. But most importantly, she has taken a hard-line stance on immigration, with her government rejecting two-thirds of asylum-seekers’ claims in 2024.
Conservation work began at San Lorenzo in Lucina in 2023 following water damage to some of the frescoes in the chapels. The basilica’s rector, Daniele Micheletti, commented, “We were surprised. We did not see the work until the scaffolding came down.” The diocese of Rome also issued a statement, saying that the alleged changes made to the angel were “an initiative of the decorator not communicated to the competent bodies”. The conservator, Bruno Valentinetti, initially insisted that he restored the angel in accordance with reference materials and that any resemblance to Meloni was unintentional. Many did not accept this assertion, especially when they saw a before-and-after photograph of the angel that shows numerous differences that are difficult to excuse or explain away. Meloni herself commented on the matter, posting an image of the restored painting on Instagram with the caption, “No, I definitely do not look like an angel.”
However, Valentinetti did later confess. After a few days, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that Father Micheletti and Cardinal Baldassare Reina had spoken with Valentinetti and ordered him to cover the angel’s face. The restorer confessed, “Yes, it’s the Prime Minister’s face, but in a style similar to the previous painting.” Cardinal Reina is the Vatican’s vicar general, responsible for overseeing the administration of the Diocese of Rome on behalf of the Pope, its bishop. The diocese has instructed that the angel’s face be restored to its previous appearance.
While Meloni’s face is no longer visible, Valentinetti may get more than just bad publicity. He may have violated Article 169 of Italy’s Cultural Heritage Code. This section states that the penalty is “imprisonment from six months to one year and a fine from 775 to 38,734.50 euros” for anyone who “demolishes, removes, modifies, restores or carries out works of any kind” without authorization. The city of Rome’s Special Superintendency began archival research as part of an investigation to determine whether Valentinetti indeed violated this provision.