I visited the town of Borja in Aragon in Spain in April 2014 for no other reason than to see the wall fresco Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) in the Sanctuary of Mercy church which is famous now not for the original but for the botched restoration attempt by local resident Cecilia Giménez, an eighty year-old amateur artist who painted over the fresco in 2012 in an attempt to restore it and succeeded only in completely destroying it.
The church painting was for decades a little-known piece of religious art by a minor Spanish artist. It had remained in peaceful obscurity in the Misericordia sanctuary since it was painted in 1930. That was until Gimenez decided it needed some attention and she set about her ill-judged restoration.
The attempt was so bad that the church and the authorities initially suspected vandalism but Cecilia eventually came forward to confess that she was responsible and had attempted to restore her ‘favourite’ painting after she became upset at the weathered condition of the flecked and peeling paint.
There was talk of prosecution and punishment but soon the retouched version grew popular. The image started appearing without authorisation on everything from T-shirts to mobile phone covers, coffee mugs and wine labels. Just like ourselves may people began to arrive in Borja asking to see the painting.
The council started charging an entrance fee of €1, giving the money to the Sancti Spiritus charitable foundation, which used the windfall to help pay bills at a care home for 60 elderly people. The savvy council also instructed lawyers to establish copyright and draw up a merchandising agreement that will see the image put on plates, postcards and cigarette lighters and anything else that tourists might buy.
Every cloud has a silver lining!
My God, what did she do??, she must have been horrified but as you have said every cloud has a silver lining:))
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I think she just got her box of paints out and did the best she could!
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Touching ending but, oh my goodness, such a crying shame for the original…
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There is some doubt about the original artistic value it has to be said!
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Yes, you’re more informed on that than I, Andrew, it just that let’s say the original looked like a face painted by and adult and the restoration – well …:)
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I agree!
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Oh, what a tragedy for the original….
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and for the artist!
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Makes you cringe, right? Ugh.
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She didn’t make a good job of it, that’s for sure!
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I can’t understand how she was allowed near it…
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It seems that there wasn’t any sort of security (why would there be) and she just took her paint pots and brushes inside and started painting. Astonishing really!
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Yup. I can’t stop scratching my head.
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Even I could have done it better than that!
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I think my two year old grandson could have!
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And now I know the rest of the story. I remember when this hit the news after the failed restoration had been attempted. I had no idea that the mess on the wall was now attracting people and earning a little money for the church.
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Quite a lot of money apparently. So much that a priest allegedly helped himself to a bit of it and was charged with theft!
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Oh really? For heavens sakes the story just keeps going and going.
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Well, somebody benefited in the end but I wouldn’t be paying good money to see it. I can view haircuts like that any day on the streets. 🙂
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I’ve got a haircut like that!
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Great story! Had no idea, really interesting!!
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Thank you!
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I had never actually seen what the original looked like – now I know! I think if the new version was just a separate artwork it would be an acceptable piece of modern art. I think the shock comes in the comparison to the original!
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and you will never be able to see the original!
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I agree with Bec. I’d seen the shot of the botched job, but the original hadn’t been included. That truly brings the travesty to life. Amazing!
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The woman clearly isn’t safe with a paint box!
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It’s like the tone deaf people who audition for “xxxx’s Got Talent”. They become overnight sensations on YouTube because they’re that bad 😛
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Yes, the same sort of thing!
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