I’m no angel, Italy’s PM says over painting that bears her resemblance

A picture shows a detail of a newly restored fresco in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina where an angel is reported resembling Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in Rome on Jan. 31, 2026. (Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP via Getty Images)

ROME, Italy -- Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, joked on Saturday she does not look like an angel, after a row blew up in the media over a restored fresco in a Rome church.

Some of Italy’s press have been asking whether the premier served as inspiration for a cherub painted in a chapel in the San Lorenzo in Lucina basilica, located a few metres from the main building of the Italian government.

The newspaper La Repubblica noted that, following recent renovations, one of the painted angels bears a resemblance to the blonde, diminutive leader.

The winged figure is seen holding a parchment and standing next to a bust of Italy’s last king, Umberto II, who reigned for just a month before being deposed in 1946.

The Italian restorer who worked on the cherubim, Bruno Ventinetti, denied to the press that he sought to immortalise Meloni, insisting that he only brought back the image of the original fresco.

Meloni herself appeared amused by the controversy, posting an image of the restored fresco on Instagram with the comment: “No, decidedly I do not resemble an angel.”

But, after several opposition politicians complained, Italy’s culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, said he had ordered an inspection of the fresco on Saturday.

The expert look-over will “determine the nature of the works carried out on the updated painting inside one of the chapels of San Lorenzo in Lucina and decide what further steps might be taken,” he said in a statement.