Frustrated 80-Year-Old Unauthorized Restoration Turns 19th-Century Artwork Into Amateurish Cartoon

Frustrated 80-year-old parishioner stunned cultural officials with unauthorized attempt to restore 120-year-old fresco.

Eighty-year-old Cecilia Gimenez became frustrated at the deterioration of a 120-year-old fresco of Christ in her local church and took it upon herself to perform the restoration.

Despite her claim the priest of the Santuario de Misericordia church in Borja, northeastern Spain gave her permission to restore the work. Cecilia efforts turned the sophisticated artwork into an amateurish cartoon-like portrait.

According to the BBC, things worsened when the local art preservation centre had just received a donation from the painter’s granddaughter which they had planned to use to restore the original fresco.

Once images of the botched restoration of Ecce Homo (A depiction of Jesus with the crown of thorns.) by Elias Garcia Martinez began appearing around the world, the fresco turned into an unlikely tourist attraction drawing hundreds of visitors who queue for a glimpse.

Despite the small commercial value of the artwork, it is nevertheless sentimental to the citizens of Borja, forcing the Culture Council of Borja to commission professionals in an attempt to repair the painting.  

Update (January 2013): According to The Telegraph, after the image became an overnight sensation as a photograph of the botched restoration spread across social networking sites, tens of thousands of tourists made the journey to the unremarkable town in rural Aragon,to stand in front of the mural and laugh at Mrs Giménez’s handiwork.

Seizing an opportunity to swell its coffers, the church began levying a 4 euro entrance fee on visitors, earning 2,000 euros in the first four days. Now Lawyers acting for Mrs Gimenez insist she should be entitled to a cut of the profits, which she wants to go towards a charity of her choice.

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