Painting depicting "Angel Meloni" is removed from church in Rome.
The portrait was altered to be virtually identical to the prime minister, the first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister of Italy.
Reuters - A restored angel bearing the face of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was erased from a mural in a church in central Rome on the orders of the parish priest, following a political and clerical uproar.
One of the two angels in the chapel of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, near the government headquarters, has been altered to look virtually identical to the 49-year-old right-wing leader, the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of Italy.
The image was seen on Saturday by the center-left newspaper La Repubblica and provoked outrage among opposition figures and irritation from Cardinal Baldo Reina, vicar general of the diocese of Rome.
When the church opened on Wednesday, the face resembling Meloni had been covered in paint, leaving the angel headless.
"I always said that if (the image of Meloni) caused division, we would remove it," Father Daniele Micheletti told the Italian news agency Ansa.
"There was a procession of people who came to see her instead of attending mass or praying. That was not acceptable."
The amateur artist who restored the painting, Bruno Valentinetti, said, according to La Repubblica on Wednesday, that the Vatican asked him to erase it.
A spokesman for the Holy See declined to comment. The Diocese of Rome said it would release a statement later.
On Saturday, Cardinal 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 laughed off the incident. She posted a photo of the disputed painting on Instagram, captioned "No, I definitely don't look like an angel" and accompanied by a laughing emoji.
The altered mural was created in 2000 and is not under any heritage protection. Valentinetti is its original author and has been asked to restore it to repair water damage, Father Micheletti said on Saturday.
(Reporting by Remo Casilli and Alvise Armellini; Additional reporting by Joshua McElwee)
