Spanish Woman Who Gained Fame for Botching a Famous Fresco Restoration Has Died at the Age of 94
The elderly woman from Spain who achieved global fame for her poorly executed repair job on a valuable Jesus Christ fresco has died at the age of 94.
The woman, a resident of the town of Borja in northeast Spain, rose to prominence thirteen years ago after she undertook to restore a 100-year-old painting titled Ecce Homo located in her local church.
Giménez's handiwork spread across the internet and was dubbed "Monkey Christ", because the resulting likeness of Christ's head looking somewhat like a hairy monkey.
Official Confirmation and Tribute
The 94-year-old's passing was confirmed by the town's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, in a social media post, where he described her as a "great lover of painting from a very early age".
"Rest in peace Cecilia, your memory will live on with us," the mayor posted.
Arilla further referenced Giménez's "famous restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "because of the poor state of conservation it was in, Cecilia, with the best intentions, decided to apply new paint over the original".
The Artwork's Background and the Fateful Act
The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) painted by nineteenth-century artist Elias Garcia Martinez had resided for over a century in the Santuario de la Misericordia near Zaragoza.
At the time, Giménez, who was 81 years old, stated that parishioners had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had been given the go-ahead from the local priest to proceed.
She also noted that anybody who came into the Church would have observed she was applying paint to the original image.
A Surprising Tourist Boom
The aftermath of the repaint job led to the creation of the "Ecce Mono" internet phenomenon and transformed the previously sleepy town of Borja rapidly turn into a significant visitor attraction.
The municipality, which had previously welcomed just five thousand visitors per year, attracted over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and managed to raise over €50,000 for charity from the attention.
Currently, officials estimate that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists visit Borja every year to see the famous painting, which is now displayed behind a pane of glass.
Later Life and Community Admiration
After recovering from the wave of criticism, with support from the townspeople and others globally, Giménez later stage an exhibition of her paintings showcasing twenty-eight of her personal paintings.
She was commended by the mayor for her generosity and years of dedication to the church.
Ultimately, what began as a well-intentioned but flawed art repair forged an improbable piece of pop culture and provided unprecedented tourist revenue to a small Spanish town.