Angelo-Meloni, Superintendence: 'We will evaluate after verification on documentation'

On the case of theangel (actually a winged victory) with a face similar to Giorgia Meloni’s, which appeared after recent works in the Chapel of the Crucifix in the basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome’s Special Superintendence maintains a position marked by caution. When questioned by Finestre sull’Arte, the administration explained that after an inspection carried out on Saturday, January 31, it had begun a phase of archival research aimed at identifying the original documentation of the fresco, which, it is confirmed to us, was made in 2000.

“After the inspection carried out on Saturday, January 31, the Special Superintendence of Rome activated today,” the agency confirms to us, “archival research to locate the documentation, photographic or project drawings, of the original painting of the chapel of the Crucifix in San Lorenzo in Lucina made in 2000.” The goal of the ongoing activity is to find photographic material or any project drawings useful for reconstructing the original appearance of the chapel’s decoration, so that it can be compared with its current state, the result of the intervention completed in 2025. Only through this comparison will it be possible to assess whether the operation is part of a compliant restoration or an unauthorized modification.

When asked for further clarification on the legal qualification of the intervention, on the applicability of constraints to a relatively recent fresco inserted in a protected monumental context, and on the possible consequences envisaged by the Cultural Heritage Code, the ministerial body reiterated the impossibility, at present, of providing precise answers. According to what we have been informed, any assessment would in fact be premature in the absence of concrete and verified data. “In fact, the activities of study and verification of the available archival documentation are in progress,” the Superintendence explained, “and only at the end of this in-depth study will it be possible to evaluate all aspects of the affair and give answers on the basis of the information acquired.”

Therefore, the line adopted is one of waiting: only at the end of the study of the available documentation, and after the necessary technical verifications, will the Superintendence be able to express its opinion on the aspects of the affair, including whether the intervention is not in line with the original work and the planned authorizations. Until then, on the case that has ignited public and media debate, the administration chooses not to advance hypotheses or anticipate possible measures.

Angelo-Meloni, Superintendence: 'We will evaluate after verification on documentation'

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