Rome, Feb 2 (EFE).- A controversial fresco in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome, depicting an angel on Umberto II of Savoy’s monument with the face of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has become a new tourist attraction, drawing crowds on Monday.
”Yes, it’s definitely Meloni,” several visitors who came to the church told EFE, taking the opportunity to photograph the image in the right side chapel of the main altar.
Opinions on the reproduction of Meloni’s face in this religious fresco vary widely, ranging from humorous and jocular comments to displeasure at mixing politics with sacred art.
Francesca Bellini, a visitor from Rome, considered it “really very ugly, because, although it attracts many tourists, it is not respectful to everyone, to Italians nor to the city of Rome,” she told EFE.
Curiosity prompted Francesco Romano, an archaeologist, to visit the basilica on his day off:
”I heard the news and came out of curiosity. When you see it, you have to say yes, it does look like her,” he acknowledged to EFE, before expressing his criticism of the intervention.
”It was done without any scientific purpose, and that’s quite serious,” he said, because leaving “political parties aside,” which he says he is not interested in, he believes that “you can’t transform a work of art” with this type of alteration.
Foreign visitors such as Radek Lajda, a Czech tourist who came to San Lorenzo in Lucina attracted by a plaque dedicated to the composer Josef Mysliveček, also joined in the controversy.
”We hadn’t heard anything about the fresco, so it was a complete surprise,” he told EFE.
However, in his opinion, such cases are not exceptional: “It has happened many times in the past, in many countries, with statues and paintings. I would say it’s just one more and I wouldn’t make a big deal out of it,” he said.
Although the inclusion of contemporary figures in works of art has historical precedents, current interventions on protected property are subject to strict conservation criteria and scientific regulations, which is why this incident has generated considerable political and institutional reaction in Italy.
Meanwhile, the basilica and some of its chapels remain under construction and the fresco awaits the technical inspection ordered by the Italian Ministry of Culture to determine the nature of the intervention and decree the measures it deems appropriate. EFE
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