Does This Restored Roman Fresco Depict Italy’s Prime Minister?
The recent restoration, which bears an uncanny resemblance to far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, is currently under investigation.
Italian officials are at odds over a restored fresco in a central Roman chapel following accusations that one of the repainted cherubs was intentionally modeled after far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Though self-taught restorer Bruno Valentinetti, who originally painted the mural, has denied using the politician's likeness at the Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Lucina, the Italian Ministry of Culture has launched an inspection into the chapel conservation project.
Photos of Valentinetti's restoration spread rapidly across the internet on January 31. Meloni herself took to Instagram to address the frenzy, sharing a detail image of the cherub with a caption in Italian. “No, I definitely don't look like an angel,” she wrote, along with a laughing emoji.
In interviews with Italian media outlets, Valentinetti reiterated multiple times that he “doesn't notice any resemblance” to Meloni after revising the fresco he had originally painted in 2000, which suffered from water damage. The 83-year-old stated to La Reppublica that the angel in question initially referenced a much younger “old flame” of his who now lives abroad, and that he just repainted what was originally there.
“I live [at the Basilica] on a social pension, I'm a guest, I survive on 600 euros, Meloni hasn't given me anything,” Valentinetti said in an interview with La Reppublica, explaining that he maintains and restores the church in exchange for boarding. “I don't like her. I have nothing to do with her.”
Valentinetti also told Leggo that he has no current political affiliation and that he hasn't voted in years. However, the parish's priest, Daniele Micheletti, stated that Valentinetti was once affiliated with the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement during the era of its founder, Giorgio Almirante.
“Knowing Valentinetti, I'd say so,” Micheletti told Leggo when questioned about Valentinetti's intentions. “I also notice the resemblance [to Meloni] ... It doesn't escape me.”
Reactions to the Meloni-esque cherub have elicited strong responses from the left and the right across the nation, with Democratic Party member Irene Manzi calling the restoration “unacceptable” in her plea for the Ministry of Culture's involvement. Susanna Donatella Campione, a senator under the right-wing Brothers of Italy (FDI) party, derided the media attention as evidence of the left's “total obsession” in attacking the government.
The frenzy surrounding the fresco led the Ministry of Culture to launch an inquiry in order to “ascertain the nature of the intervention” and “decide what to do next.”
In its own statement, the Diocese of Rome also confirmed that the alteration of the cherub's face was “not communicated to the competent authorities,” while Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general for the Diocese, reportedly issued a stern warning about “exploiting sacred art.”
“Art and culture cannot be allowed to become an instrument of propaganda or anything else, regardless of whether the face depicted is that of the Prime Minister,” parliament members representing the progressive political party Movimento 5 Stelle told the Italian news outlet Il Sole 24 Ore, echoing Manzi's call for an intervention.
