The Roman diocese headed by Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV has ordered a church in Rome to fix a fresco of an angel that was updated to bear a suspicious resemblance to one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Europe.
An Italian newspaper noticed over the weekend that a newly restored fresco at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina in downtown Rome suddenly featured an angel whose face looked a lot like Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party.
The artist, Bruno Valentinetti, has denied modeling the angel after the prime minister, but the Roman diocese expressed its “disappointment” and vowed to investigate. On Monday, technicians from the diocese told the parish priest the painting needed to be changed to remove Meloni’s likeness, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported.
As pope, the 70-year-old Leo is also the Bishop of Rome.
Originally, the Basilica San Lorenzo parish priest, Daniele Micheletti, had defended the fresco, saying he didn’t think there was anything wrong with Valentinetti painting the premier’s likeness on an angel in a chapel dedicated to “holy souls.”
“It doesn’t mean we’re Meloni supporters,” he told La Repubblica on Saturday. “Maybe we are Meloni supporters, but we don’t say so. The face of King Umberto II is also there, does that mean we’re monarchists?”
But the Roman diocese’s cardinal vicar, Leo’s close ally Baldassare Reina, responded to the news with a “firm” statement that “images of sacred art and the Christian tradition can be misused or exploited, as they are intended exclusively to support liturgical life.”
After speaking to the diocese, Micheletti said the fresco would be modified. Archivists are looking for documentation of the original version of the fresco, which Valentinetti himself painted in 2000 within the historic basilica, which dates back to the 13th century.
Pope Leo has been an outspoken critic of many of Trump’s policies, including the president’s hardline immigration tactics and threats to invade foreign countries.
He shared some of those disagreements with the administration directly during a May sit-down with Vice President JD Vance, and has made a point of distancing himself from his older brother’s pro-MAGA politics.
In November, a White House spokesperson slammed Leo for saying that detained migrants should be allowed to receive communion.
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