Vatican Requests Removal of Giorgia Meloni’s Likeness from Angel in Restored Fresco

The alleged likeness of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni featured on a recently-restored image of an angel in a church in Rome will be removed at the request of the Vatican, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on Tuesday morning.

Over the past days the Basilica of Saint Lawrence in Lucina, located in the Italian capital, has been embroiled in an ongoing controversy after it was reported that one of the two angels flanking a marble bust of Italy’s last king Umberto II had been allegedly restored in Meloni’s likeness.

The situation, first reported by La Repubblica, and then by other Italian newspapers over the weekend, prompted the Diocese of Rome and the Italian Culture Minister to launch an investigation into the matter.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Rev. Daniele