Key Highlights
- The cherub in a restored fresco depicting angels that honors Italy’s King Umberto II closely resembles Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, The Associated Press (AP) reported. The Meloni-like cherub is shown in a deferential pose toward the king.
- WORLD’S LARGEST NATIVITY SCENE TOWERS OVER CITY WITH RECORD-BREAKING HOLY FIGURES Some people are interpreting this as a pointed allusion to Italians’ post–World War II rejection of the monarchy after its support for fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
- Angels are shown on a fresco to the memory of Italy's King Umberto II inside the Basilica of St.
- Lawrence in Lucina in Rome.
- (Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo) The diocese of Rome addressed the controversy in press releases, noting that the fresco was being restored in a project. They "had been aware since 2023 of a restoration project, without modifying or adding anything, on the fresco in question, recently made [in] 2000.