"It must be the ugliest wall painting in Rome - and that's even without the bizarre portrait of Giorgia Meloni as an angel. Artist Bruno Valentinetti painted his tribute to Umberto II, the last king of Italy, earlier this century in a side chapel of the ancient church of San Lorenzo in Lucina in its historic heart, the Centro Storico."
"Valentinetti's mural, by contrast, is a glib, tacky, photorealist effort that didn't even last two decades before water damage demanded restoration. Valentinetti, now 83, carried out the repairs himself and had the genius idea of giving an angel the face highly recognisable because obviously based on photos of her of Italy's populist prime minister. What was he thinking? Is he in love? Or was this an insidious piece of propaganda? Meloni no more the face of the angel erased from the fresco after protests."
"So in the artist's mind, and Meloni's Who, me? reaction to his angelic vision of her, perhaps there are disturbing affinities with the authoritarian Italy of the early 20th century. The church may have suspected this. After removing Meloni's face, the artist claimed he was pressured to do so by the Vatican. Cardinal Don Baldo Reina has spoken of his bitterness at the artist's secret portrait, strong language conveying condemnation of Meloni's uninvited appearance"
Bruno Valentinetti painted a controversial tribute to Umberto II in a side chapel of San Lorenzo in Lucina in Rome's Centro Storico. The photorealist mural contrasted with a revered Guido Reni Crucifixion and suffered water damage, prompting Valentinetti, now 83, to restore it himself. During restoration he gave an angel a face recognisably based on photos of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, provoking protests and removal of the face. Observers linked the portrait's placement beside Italy's last monarch and Meloni's far-right roots to possible affinities with authoritarian early-20th-century Italy, and a cardinal expressed bitterness.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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