Spanish Woman Who Found Notoriety for Mishandling a Prized Fresco Repair Has Died at Age 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.
The woman, a resident of the town of Borja in northern Spain, became a global sensation thirteen years ago after she attempted to restore a 100-year-old fresco known as Ecce Homo housed within her parish church.
Giménez's restoration effort spread across the internet and was dubbed "Potato Jesus", because the altered depiction of Christ's head bearing a resemblance to a hairy monkey.
Local Confirmation and Homage
The 94-year-old's death was confirmed by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he described her as a "great lover of painting from a young age".
"Rest in peace Cecilia, we will always remember you," Arilla wrote.
Arilla further referenced Giménez's "famous restoration of Ecce Homo" in August 2012, which "due to the deteriorated condition it presented, Cecilia, acting in good faith, decided to repaint the work over".
The Painting's Background and the Now-Infamous Intervention
The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) painted by nineteenth-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had been held for over a century in the Santuario de la Misericordia close to Zaragoza.
At the time, Giménez, then 81, stated that parishioners 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 seen she was painting over the existing image.
An Unexpected Economic Lifeline
The aftermath of the repaint job led to the creation of the "Ecce Mono" meme and transformed the previously sleepy town of Borja rapidly turn into a significant tourist destination.
The town, 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.
Today, local authorities say that between 15,000 and 20,000 tourists visit Borja every year to see the famous painting, which is now protected by a pane of glass.
Legacy and Community Admiration
After recovering from the initial backlash, backed by the townspeople and well-wishers globally, Giménez went on to stage an exhibition of her paintings featuring twenty-eight of her personal paintings.
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 created an unlikely cultural icon and brought remarkable tourist revenue to a small Spanish town.
