Rome's San Lorenzo in Lucina church has removed the image that, after restoration work, came to strongly resemble the face of Premier Giorgia Meloni, from a cherub in one of its frescos, the parish priest said on Wednesday.
    "It has been removed," said the priest, Monsignor Daniele Micheletti.
    "I always said that we would have done it if it became divisive.
    "There was a procession of people who came to see it, not to hear Mass or pray.
    "It was impossible".
    The diocese of Rome opened an inquiry after a furore broke out about the fresco in a chapel of the basilica devoted to Umberto II, Italy's last king.
    The restorer who did the work, Bruno Ventinetti, said he simply revived the lines of the original artwork.
    But Father Giulio Albanese, the head of communications for the diocese, refuted that on Tuesday.
    "The original certainly wasn't like that," Albanese said.
    "It was right to do the restoration, but the initial format, which was very different, must be exactly respected," he said.
    Meloni joked about the fresco furore on social media at the weekend, asking "do I look like a cherub?".

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