Spanish Woman Who Gained Notoriety for Mishandling a Famous Fresco Restoration Has Died at Age 94
The Spanish parishioner 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, from the town of Borja in northern Spain, became a global sensation 13 years ago after she attempted to repaint a 100-year-old painting known as Ecce Homo housed within her local church.
Giménez's restoration effort spread across the internet and was dubbed "Monkey Christ", largely due to the altered likeness of Christ's head looking somewhat like a hairy monkey.
Local Confirmation and Tribute
The 94-year-old's death was announced by the town's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, in a social media post, where he acknowledged her as a "passionate enthusiast of painting from a very early age".
"Rest in peace Cecilia, we will always remember you," Arilla wrote.
Arilla also paid tribute to Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in August 2012, which "due to the poor state of conservation it was in, Cecilia, acting in good faith, chose to apply new paint over the original".
The Painting's Background and the Fateful Act
The Ecce Homo ("This is the Man" in Latin) painted by 19th century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had been held for over a hundred years in the Santuario de la Misericordia near Zaragoza.
In 2012, Giménez, who was 81 years old, explained that church members had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had been given the go-ahead from the parish priest to proceed.
She added at the time that anybody who entered the Church would have observed she was painting over the existing artwork.
A Surprising Tourist Boom
The impact of the restoration led to the creation of the "Monkey Christ" internet phenomenon and saw the previously sleepy town of Borja rapidly turn into a major tourist destination.
The town, which had in the past seen only 5,000 tourists per year, received over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and managed to raise more than €50,000 for charity from the attention.
Today, local authorities say that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists visit Borja every year to see the famous portrait, which is now protected by a protective shield of glass.
Legacy and Local Support
After recovering from the initial backlash, with support from local residents and others around the world, Giménez went on to hold an art exhibition featuring twenty-eight of her own works.
She was commended by the mayor for her kind-hearted nature and decades of dedication to the church.
In the end, what began as a well-intentioned but unsuccessful art repair created an improbable cultural icon and provided remarkable tourist revenue to a humble Spanish town.
