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Italy Orders Inspection After Church Fresco Angel Resembles Giorgia Meloni

Authorities are examining a volunteer restoration in San Lorenzo in Lucina that critics say may breach heritage rules.

Overview

  • Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli dispatched ministry technicians to assess the intervention in the chapel and decide next steps.
  • The Vicariate of Rome opened an internal inquiry into how the face on the angel was modified.
  • Volunteer sacristan and decorator Bruno Valentinetti, whose name appears in a Latin inscription, carried out the work and denies intentionally depicting the prime minister.
  • Parish priest Monsignor Daniele Micheletti acknowledges the likeness but defends the restoration as permissible.
  • Opposition Democrats labeled the case unacceptable and urged action under the Cultural Heritage Code, as crowds visited the basilica and Meloni quipped that she does not look like an angel.