Catholic Church and Italy investigate cherub resembling Meloni
The Catholic Church in Rome and Italy’s Culture Ministry are investigating a cherub in a historic basilica that critics say resembles Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after photographs circulated in Italian newspapers, according to The Associated Press. Church and state officials moved quickly after the images drew attention to renovations at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina.
Diocese officials and the Culture Ministry launched inquiries into the recent work at the basilica, which is known as one of the oldest churches in Rome. The renewed focus has made the site newly famous, with crowds packing the church on Sunday and Monday as curiosity-seekers strained to photograph the angel in a side chapel close to the front altar, at times disrupting Mass.
Meloni, for her part, sought to defuse the outcry. “No, I definitely don’t look like an angel,” she wrote on social media, accompanying the text with a laughing/crying emoji and a photo of the artwork.
The basilica’s location adds to the visibility of the controversy: it sits on one of Rome’s most fashionable piazzas, a short distance from the Spanish Steps. It was consecrated in 440 by Pope Sixtus III and later enlarged and rebuilt, and it is currently the property of Italy’s Interior Ministry, which is responsible for upkeep.
The controversy traces to renovations that were carried out in 2000, when a front chapel was remodeled to include a bust of the last king of Italy, Umberto II. The decoration included a cherub holding a map of Italy and appearing to kneel in deference to the king, and officials are now scrutinizing whether the restored cherub’s face—after later restoration work—matches Meloni’s features.
The priest of the basilica, Rev. Daniele Micheletti, acknowledged the resemblance but said it does not change the underlying meaning of the decoration. Micheletti told AP on Monday that the issue is not for him to resolve, saying the owner of the decorations is someone else. “The priest is not responsible for the decorations in the sense that the owner is someone else,” he said. “So, what do they want from me? I did not do the painting.”
After water infiltrations damaged the basilica starting in 2023, the cherub was restored, and that restoration is at the center of the renewed inquiry. The restorer, Bruno Valentinetti, denied wrongdoing and denied that he used Meloni as a model, telling Italian media that Meloni was “in the eye of the beholder” and that he had merely restored the original painting, which he said he himself had made in 2000.
Meanwhile, the investigations are also directed at the original appearance of the cherub from the 2000 renovation. Over the weekend, the Culture Ministry sent a special delegate, Daniela Porro, along with ministry officials to survey the artwork. A ministry statement said the goal was to “ascertain the nature of the work” and “decide what to do.”
Church leadership has taken a firmer tone. Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar of Rome, announced an investigation and criticized Micheletti’s response, including what Reina described as the priest’s blasé attitude in insisting that a political figure had no place in church art. In a statement, the diocese said: “In renewing the diocese of Rome’s commitment to the preservation of its artistic and spiritual heritage, it is firmly reiterated that images of sacred art and Christian tradition cannot be misused or exploited, as they are intended exclusively to support liturgical life and personal and communal prayer.”