""There is indeed a certain resemblance, but we should ask the restorer why he did it that way," said Micheletti, according to the . "I had asked for the chapel to be restored exactly as it was." He added that Valentinetti is "not a house painter, he's very good.""
""We cannot allow art and culture to risk becoming a tool for propaganda," said a spokesperson for the Five Star Movement, according to the Guardian."
A volunteer restorer, Bruno Valentinetti, is accused of introducing a likeness of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni into a fresco in the basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina after repairing water damage from 2023. The fresco frames a bust of former king Umberto II, flanked by two angels; the right-hand angel holding a map of Italy is said to resemble Meloni. Valentinetti denies the likeness and says he retraced the original design after two years of restoration work. Italy's cultural heritage authority and the Diocese of Rome have opened investigations. The basilica pastor acknowledged the resemblance, and political opponents condemned the image as potential propaganda; Meloni denied the comparison.
Read at Artnet News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]