Silvio Berlusconi surprised friends and foes alike when his office let it be known that he has had a four-hour operation under general anaesthetic.
The prime minister took temporary leave of absence from his mounting woes, legal battles over his private and financial antics, and a foreign policy headache over the upheaval across the Mediterranean, to undergo a medical intervention that was described by his office as jaw and dental surgery.
A statement which quoted the prime minister's doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, said that the surgery was carried out to repair damage done to Berlusconi when he had been attacked by a psychologically disturbed man in December 2009.
Zangrillo said the 74-year-old was "in good condition" after the operation, had been discharged from hospital in Milan, and was back at his villa near the city.
Zangrillo was quoted as saying Berlusconi had a "jaw and face operation" with bone transplantation, and an implant to restore Berlusconi's ability to chew, which had been "seriously compromised" by injuries in the attack, the statement said.
Last month, the prime minister tugged at the side of his mouth during the course of a press conference, as if to demonstrate that inside all was not as it should be.
He received a broken nose and two broken teeth when Massimo Tartaglia, 42, hurled a model of Milan cathedral at him from a few feet away.
"I make so many sacrifices to do a service to the country," said the prime minister, who frequently complains of the hardships he endures in order to carry on governing Italy.
"I still haven't managed to put in the other [missing] tooth because I have a nerve underneath that has not healed."
The sudden operation meant that he had to cancelled a scheduled meeting with Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, due tomorrow.
Publicly at least, nobody in Italy suggested that there had been any other reason for Berlusconi's sudden disappearance from view.
But it is nevertheless a fact that similar, previous vanishing acts by Italy's image-conscious prime minister have turned out later to have been for cosmetic surgery.
It is fair to say that, when he returns to view, his jaw, and particularly his face, will be examined closely for signs of modification.
Berlusconi is quite clear in holding to his view that, when it comes to ageing, nature should not be allowed to take its course.
After finally admitting, in December 2004, that he had had a hair transplant, he told reporters that going under the knife to improve one's looks was "a way of showing respect to those who share your life, your family. It is [also] a way of showing respect to those who expect you to represent them on an international and national stage."
The prime minister is believed or known to have had at least five cosmetic operations in the past 15 years. The first was in 1996, when he claimed to have been bitten by a spider.
The most extensive is assumed to have been in the winter of 2003-04 when he vanished for almost a month, prompting speculation that he was seriously ill.
He reappeared in mid-January wrinkle-free and discernibly slimmer, even though his then-doctor insisted he had merely had a minor nip-and-tuck around the eyes.
Zangrillo indicated that his patient was unlikely to be absent for as long a time on this occasion. Indeed, a "possible return to work" was pencilled in for Thursday when the next cabinet meeting is scheduled. On Friday, Berlusconi is due in Brussels for a European summit.