{"id":57322,"date":"2026-02-26T13:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/?p=57322"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:27:10","slug":"angel-in-disguise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2026\/02\/angel-in-disguise\/","title":{"rendered":"Angel or Devil?: Fresco Restorer Inserts Face of Italian PM Meloni"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_57323\" style=\"width: 197px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Giorgia_Meloni_on_17_April_2025_in_the_White_House_cropped.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-57323\" class=\"wp-image-57323\" src=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Giorgia_Meloni_on_17_April_2025_in_the_White_House_cropped-227x300.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy\" width=\"187\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Giorgia_Meloni_on_17_April_2025_in_the_White_House_cropped-227x300.jpg 227w, https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Giorgia_Meloni_on_17_April_2025_in_the_White_House_cropped.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 187px) 100vw, 187px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-57323\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">An art conservator in Italy is coming under fire after an angel in a restored fresco now bears an uncanny resemblance to the country\u2019s current far-right prime minister, Georgia Meloni.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">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 <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/7\/78\/Guido_reni%2C_crocifisso_di_san_lorenzo_in_lucina%2C_01.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Guido Reni\u2019s crucifixion altarpiece <\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffbondono.com\/touristinrome\/RomeImages\/IMG_0149-20131002.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">a marble bust by Gian Lorenzo Bernini<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. 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 <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.churches-of-rome.info\/CoR_Info\/SLiL436\/L_pics\/Loc15\/DSCF0034.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the Cappella Nataletti<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, named after the wealthy family that leased it in the nineteenth century. The chapel features <a href=\"https:\/\/www.churches-of-rome.info\/CoR_Info\/SLiL436\/L_pics\/Loc15\/15c57643.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a large seventeenth-century painted wooden crucifix<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.churches-of-rome.info\/CoR_Info\/SLiL436\/L_pics\/Loc15\/15d65787.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a Madonna &amp; Child painting by Onofrio Avellino<\/a>. The chapel also features<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ansa.it\/webimages\/img_700\/2026\/1\/31\/c9ad3eda38832d08ff9ffbb29b0e062d.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> a memorial to Umberto II, the last King of Italy<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 1946, Italy held a referendum on whether to retain or abolish the monarchy. Umberto\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/news.artnet.com\/app\/news-upload\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2258606217-1024x683.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">resembled the current prime minister<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Meloni is the leader of the right-wing nationalist party Fratelli d\u2019Italia (Brothers of Italy). She is the first female leader in Italy\u2019s modern history, and her premiership has been described as <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/italy-election-exit-poll-far-right-giorgia-meloni-brothers-of-berlusconi-salvini-mario-draghi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the most right-wing government the country has had since the Second World War<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Her party can be traced directly to Mussolini, descending from the Movimento Sociale Italiano, founded by former fascists after the Second World War. Meloni <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eiu.com\/n\/creeping-erosion-of-civil-liberties-in-italy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">has habitually violated civil liberties<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, 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 <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ismu.org\/en\/in-2024-asylum-applications-increased-in-italy-but-recognitions-decreased-only-7-6-granted-refugee-status-press-release-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">rejecting two-thirds of asylum-seekers\u2019 claims in 2024<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Conservation work began at San Lorenzo in Lucina in 2023 following water damage to some of the frescoes in the chapels. The basilica\u2019s rector, Daniele Micheletti, commented, \u201cWe were surprised. We did not see the work until the scaffolding came down.\u201d The diocese of Rome also issued a statement, saying that the alleged changes made to the angel were \u201can initiative of the decorator not communicated to the competent bodies\u201d. 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 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">accept this assertion, especially when they saw <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.finestresullarte.info\/rivista\/immagini\/2026\/fn\/angelo-volto-meloni-confronto-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a before-and-after photograph of the angel<\/a> that shows numerous<\/span>\u00a0differences that are difficult to excuse or explain away. Meloni herself commented on the matter, <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DULKhxLDGPB\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">posting an image of the restored painting on Instagram<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> with the caption, \u201cNo, I definitely do not look like an angel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">However, Valentinetti did later confess. After a few days, the Italian newspaper <em>La Repubblica<\/em> reported that Father Micheletti and Cardinal Baldassare Reina had spoken with Valentinetti and ordered him <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/feb\/04\/angel-fresco-resembling-giorgia-meloni-removed-from-rome-church#img-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to cover the angel&#8217;s face<\/a>. The restorer confessed, &#8220;Yes, it&#8217;s the Prime Minister&#8217;s face, but in a style similar to the previous painting.&#8221; Cardinal Reina is the Vatican&#8217;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&#8217;s face be restored to its previous appearance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While Meloni&#8217;s face is no longer visible, Valentinetti may get more than just bad publicity. He may have violated Article 169 of Italy\u2019s Cultural Heritage Code. This section states that the penalty is \u201cimprisonment from six months to one year and a fine from 775 to 38,734.50 euros\u201d for anyone who \u201cdemolishes, removes, modifies, restores or carries out works of any kind\u201d without authorization. The city of Rome\u2019s Special Superintendency began archival research as part of an investigation to determine whether Valentinetti indeed violated this provision.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An art conservator in Italy is coming under fire after an angel in a restored fresco now bears an uncanny resemblance to the country\u2019s current far-right prime minister, Georgia Meloni. San Lorenzo in Lucina is a Catholic basilica in the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2026\/02\/angel-in-disguise\/?contemporary=N\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":57323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[258,367,637,484,11,9,257,485],"class_list":["post-57322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rehs-galleries","category-rehs-contemporary","tag-conservation","tag-crime-and-punishment","tag-fresco","tag-italy","tag-rehs-contemporary-news","tag-rehs-galleries-news","tag-restoration","tag-rome"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Angel or Devil?: Fresco Restorer Inserts Face of Italian PM Meloni - Rehs Galleries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Italian art conservator is coming under fire after a restored fresco now bears an uncanny resemblance to the country\u2019s prime minister, Georgia Meloni.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2026\/02\/angel-in-disguise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Angel or Devil?: Fresco Restorer Inserts Face of Italian PM Meloni\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Italian art conservator is coming under fire after a restored fresco now bears an uncanny resemblance to the country\u2019s prime minister, Georgia Meloni.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/2026\/02\/angel-in-disguise\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rehs Galleries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RehsGalleriesInc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T18:27:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rehs.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Giorgia_Meloni_on_17_April_2025_in_the_White_House_cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"845\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan Scheer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan Scheer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/angel-in-disguise\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/angel-in-disguise\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathan Scheer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1d33fd182b28afdad8fc3548ffe6bdc4\"},\"headline\":\"Angel or Devil?: Fresco Restorer Inserts Face of Italian PM Meloni\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-26T18:27:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/angel-in-disguise\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":765,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/angel-in-disguise\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rehs.com\\\/eng\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Giorgia_Meloni_on_17_April_2025_in_the_White_House_cropped.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Conservation\",\"Crime and Punishment\",\"fresco\",\"italy\",\"Rehs Contemporary - Art World News\",\"Rehs Galleries - Art World News\",\"Restoration\",\"rome\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Rehs 19th &amp; 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