‘Angel Meloni’ scrubbed off Rome church painting on priest’s orders

ROME – An angel restored with the face of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been scrubbed off a wall painting in a central Rome church on the orders of the parish priest, following a political and clerical uproar.

One of two angels in a chapel of the Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina, close to government headquarters, was altered to look virtually identical to the 49-year-old, right-wing leader, Italy’s first woman premier.

The image was spotted on Jan 31 by centre-left newspaper la Repubblica and stirred outrage among opposition figures and irritation from Cardinal Baldo Reina, vicar-general for the diocese of Rome.

When the church opened on Feb 4, the Meloni-like face had been painted over, leaving the angel headless.

“I always said that, if (the Meloni image) proved divisive, we would remove it,” the church priest Father 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, Mr Bruno Valentinetti, was quoted by Repubblica on Feb 4 as saying he was asked to erase it by the Vatican.

A spokesman for the Holy See declined to comment. The Rome diocese said it would release a statement later.

On Jan 31, Cardinal Reina expressed “bitterness” over the incident, ordered an investigation and warned that “images of sacred art and Christian tradition cannot be misused or exploited”.

The Italian Culture Ministry also announced an inquiry, while Ms Meloni laughed off the incident. She posted a picture of the disputed painting on Instagram, with the caption “No, I definitely don’t look like an angel”, and a laughing emoji.

The altered wall painting was done in 2000, and is not under any heritage protection.

Mr Valentinetti is its original author and was asked to restore it to fix water damage, Father Micheletti said on Saturday. REUTERS