Spanish Woman Who Gained Notoriety for Mishandling a Famous Painting Restoration Has Died at Age 94
The elderly woman from Spain who made international headlines for her infamous repair job on a valuable religious painting has passed away at the age of 94.
The woman, a resident of the town of Borja in northern Spain, became a global sensation thirteen years ago after she attempted to repaint a century-old fresco known as Ecce Homo housed within her local church.
Giménez's handiwork quickly went viral and earned the moniker "Monkey Christ", largely due to the altered likeness of Christ's head bearing a resemblance to a furry primate.
Local Confirmation and Homage
The nonagenarian's passing was announced by the town's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, in a social media post, where he described her as a "passionate enthusiast of painting from a young age".
"Descansa en paz Cecilia, your memory will live on with us," Arilla wrote.
Arilla also paid tribute to Giménez's "famous restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "due to the poor state of conservation it was in, Cecilia, acting in good faith, chose to repaint the work over".
The Artwork's Background and the Now-Infamous Intervention
The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) by nineteenth-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had resided for more than a century in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church close to Zaragoza.
In 2012, Giménez, who was 81 years old, explained that parishioners had "always repaired everything here", and that she had received permission from the parish priest to proceed.
She added at the time that anybody who entered the church would have seen she was applying paint to the original artwork.
An Unexpected Tourist Boom
The impact of the repaint job led to the creation of the "Monkey Christ" meme and saw the previously sleepy town of Borja quickly become a major visitor attraction.
The town, which had in the past seen only five thousand tourists per year, attracted more than 40,000 tourists by 2013, and generated over €50,000 for charity from the interest.
Today, local authorities say that between 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 Support
Following the initial backlash, backed by the townspeople and well-wishers around the world, Giménez later stage an art exhibition showcasing twenty-eight of her personal works.
She was commended by Borja's mayor for her generosity and years of dedication to the church.
Ultimately, what began as a sincere but unsuccessful act of restoration forged an improbable cultural icon and brought unprecedented tourist revenue to a small Spanish town.
