When the church reopened this Wednesday, February 4, the face similar to Meloni’s had been erased, leaving the angel headless.
“I always said that if there was controversy, we would remove the image. There was a procession of people who came to see it instead of attending Mass or praying. This was not acceptable,” Father Daniele Micheletti told Italian news agency ANSA.
The amateur artist who restored the painting, Bruno Valentinetti, confirmed that the Vatican asked him to delete the image.
A spokesperson for the Holy See declined to comment on the controversy. The diocese of Rome said it will release a statement later.
On Saturday, Cardinal Baldo Reina expressed “bitterness” over the incident, ordered an investigation and warned that “images of sacred art and Christian tradition cannot be misused or exploited.”
The Italian Ministry of Culture also announced an investigation, while Meloni downplayed the incident, even publishing a photograph of the painting on Instagram. “No, I definitely don’t look like an angel,” he captioned it.
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