<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Now you see her, now you don't.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The face of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/italy" rel="" target="" title="Italian"><span>Italian</span></a><span> prime minister Giorgia Meloni that was painted on a cherub in a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/church" rel="" target="" title="church"><span>church</span></a><span> in Rome has been removed following outrage and an investigation by the country's cultural ministry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meloni's likeness appeared on the body of an angel following restoration works at the Chapel of the Holy Souls of Purgatory in the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina, in central Rome.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/jeffrey-epstein-update-uk-prime-minister-keir-starmer-apologises-to-victims-for-giving-peter-mandelson-us-ambassadorial-job/4473b743-f8cb-4c05-abcf-08ea8017a553" rel="" target="" title="'Lied to': UK PM apologises to Epstein victims for 'questionable' move"><strong><span>'Lied to': UK PM apologises to Epstein victims for 'questionable' move</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Although completed late last year, the issue came to light at the weekend when before and after photos posted on social media showed that the original angel's face had been replaced with an image that looked like the prime minister.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At first the volunteer restorer, Bruno Valentinetti, denied the claims, saying that he'd copied the original images from drawings.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But on Wednesday, he told </span><a href="https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2026/02/04/news/meloni_affresco_angelo_oscurato_restauratore_valentinetti-425137900/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="La Repubblica"><em><span>La Repubblica</span></em></a><span> newspaper that it was indeed the prime minister. However, he insisted that it was similar to the original artwork, the paper reported.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/giorgia-meloni-angelic-face-of-italian-prime-minister-wiped-from-fresco/4081f79e-abd1-498a-be04-57233ca12736" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Valentinetti was tasked with smudging out his work, which has left a ghost-like white blob on the angel's body.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I covered it up because the Vatican told me to," he told </span><em><span>La Repubblica</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Vatican has not weighed in publicly on the controversy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The culture ministry, which ordered an investigation earlier this week, put out a statement on Wednesday about the removal of the image, saying that works in churches in Rome had to be pre-approved with drawings for proposed changes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In light of the removal of the face from the decoration in the chapel of the crucifix of San Lorenzo in Lucina, in agreement with the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, the Special Superintendent of Rome, Daniela Porro, has informed the rector of the Basilica that any restoration work requires a request for authorisation from the Ministry of the Interior's Fund for Places of Worship, which owns the property, the Vicariate, and the Special Superintendency of Rome, attaching a sketch of the image," the ministry wrote in a statement posted on its website.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hundreds of visitors have visited the chapel in recent days to take photos of the image, the parish priest Father Daniele Micheletti said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I've always said that if it had created divisions, I would have had it removed," he told </span><em><span>Sky Italia</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"From a regulatory standpoint, the painting could have remained there for a hundred years, but it has created too many divisions in the church."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><strong><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank" title=""><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>