Mural of ‘angel with Georgia Meloni’s face’ scrubbed off on orders of Vatican
(Picture: AFP or licensors)
A controversial mural of an angel with a face similar to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been erased after a complaint from the Vatican.
The fresco in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome, was spotted with the striking resemblance, sparking fears the church could be used as a propaganda tool for the right-wing leader.
After hundreds of locals and tourists flooded into the church to see the unholy lookalikey the priest ordered it to be painted over.
When the church opened on Wednesday, the Meloni-like face had been crudely scrubbed out, leaving the angel headless.
‘I always said that if (the Meloni image) proved divisive we would remove it,’ the church priest Daniele Micheletti told Italian news agency ANSA.
‘There was a procession of people that came to see it instead of listening to Mass or praying. It wasn’t acceptable.’
The amateur artist who restored the painting, Bruno Valentinetti, was quoted by Repubblica as saying he had been asked to erase it by the Vatican.
The artwork portrays Umberto II, who reigned as Italy’s final king for just 34 days, and is meant 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 is the face of the most powerful woman in 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 fix it and I did. I worked on it for two years and finished the work a year ago.’
He stressed ‘it’s not Meloni’ and claimed he merely ‘traced’ the outline of ‘original design’ and ‘put the colour back in’.
Father Micheletti said the restoration was needed due to water damage, and that it dated back to 2000 so was not under heritage protection.
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 else, regardless of whether the face depicted is that of the prime minister.’
Meloni herself has laughed off the controversy, posting a picture of the fresco on Instagram and commenting: ‘No, I’m definitely not like an angel.’
Italy’s authorities for protecting cultural heritage, the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio, said they will be inspecting the restoration.
They added: ‘We will compare it with archive materials to determine not so much who the restoration resembles, but whether any changes have been made, because the restorer would have had to follow the original lines.’
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