Meloni-look-alike angel removed from Rome church after brief viral moment

A Roman church briefly became a viral sensation after an angel’s face appeared to resemble Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, then just as quickly lost its star attraction.

Bruno Valentinetti, who painted the original angel in 2000 and restored the image to the likeness of Meloni, told La Repubblica Feb. 4: “I covered it up because the Vatican told me to,” referring to the Diocese of Rome.

On Jan. 31, La Repubblica reported that during the church’s restoration, a “general cherub” was replaced with one bearing Meloni’s face in the chapel where two angels watch over the bust of the last king of Italy, Umberto II.

“No, I definitely don’t look like an angel,” Meloni wrote immediately afterward on her Instagram account with an emoji indicating that she was amused with the concept.

The Ministry of Culture however promptly started an investigation into the matter, as did the Diocese of Rome.

Valentinetti, speaking inside St. Lawrence’s Church Feb. 4, admitted to La Repubblica: “I erased it. I don’t care. I keep saying she wasn’t the prime minister, but the Curia wanted it that way, and I erased it.”

The Italian newspaper added that a few minutes later Valentinetti said it was Meloni after all: “OK, it was Meloni, but along the lines of the painting that was there before.”

Meanwhile in a Feb. 4 statement, the Diocese of Rome said that “with regard to the recent news concerning the modifications,” it requested — in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture — that “the original features of the face be restored, exclusively in the interest of safeguarding the place of worship and its spiritual function.”

“The Vicariate renews its commitment to the enhancement of the ecclesiastical artistic heritage, always through loyal and constant collaboration with the State institutions responsible for its protection,” the statement said.

The Ministry of Culture indicated Feb. 4 that any further repainting of the angel’s face will require authorization from all entities involved: the government, which owns the church’s building, the diocese of Rome, which operates it, and the culture ministry’s special superintendency for Rome, according to The Associated Press.

La Repubblica reported that Feb. 4 was busy with phone calls and meetings between the owner of the building, the Fund for Buildings of Worship, the Office for Buildings of Worship of the Vicariate of Rome and Msgr. Daniele Micheletti, parish priest of San Lorenzo, that led to the removal of the prime minister’s face from the painting.

Father Micheletti told the paper that on Feb. 3 during the meeting with Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, “we decided to remove it. But I’ve always said that if it caused divisions, I would have it removed. From a regulatory standpoint, the painting could have remained there for a hundred years, but it has created too many divisions in the Church.”

Speaking to Italian journalists, Valentinetti concluded the removal disappointed the crowds flocking to San Lorenzo: “Now they’re hoping it’ll reappear,” he said.

San Lorenzo in Lucina, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is one of the oldest churches in Rome, dating back to early Christianity. The name “Lucina” derives from that of the fourth-century A.D. Roman matron, who permitted Christians to build a church on the site.

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