Spanish Parishioner Who Found Notoriety for Mishandling a Famous Painting Repair Has Died at the Age of 94
The elderly woman from Spain who made international headlines for her poorly executed repair job on a cherished religious painting has died at the age of 94.
Cecilia Giménez, a resident of the town of Borja in northern Spain, rose to prominence thirteen years ago after she undertook to repaint a 100-year-old painting titled Ecce Homo housed within her parish church.
Giménez's handiwork quickly went viral and was dubbed "Potato Jesus", because the resulting depiction of Christ's head looking somewhat like a furry primate.
Official Announcement and Tribute
The nonagenarian's death was confirmed by the town's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, in a social media post, where he acknowledged her as a "passionate lover of painting from a very early age".
"Descansa en paz Cecilia, your memory will live on with us," the mayor posted.
Arilla also paid tribute to Giménez's "famous restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "due to the deteriorated condition it presented, Cecilia, with the best intentions, decided to apply new paint over the original".
The Painting's Background and the Now-Infamous Act
The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) painted by 19th century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had resided for more than a century in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church close to Zaragoza.
At the time, Giménez, then 81, explained that parishioners had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had been given the go-ahead from the parish priest to proceed.
She also noted that anyone who entered the Church would have observed she was painting over the existing artwork.
An Unexpected Tourist Boom
The aftermath of the repaint job spawned the "Monkey Christ" internet phenomenon and saw the previously sleepy town of Borja rapidly turn into a major tourist destination.
The town, which had previously seen only five thousand visitors per year, received over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and generated more than €50,000 for charity from the interest.
Currently, officials estimate that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists visit Borja every year to view the famous painting, which is now displayed behind a protective shield of glass.
Later Life and Local Admiration
After recovering from the initial backlash, with support from the townspeople and others globally, Giménez went on to stage an art exhibition featuring twenty-eight of her personal paintings.
She was commended by Borja's mayor for her generosity and decades of faithful service to the church.
In the end, what began as a sincere but unsuccessful act of restoration created an improbable cultural icon and provided unprecedented tourist revenue to a small Spanish town.
