Spanish-born Parishioner Who Found Notoriety for Mishandling a Prized Painting Restoration Has Died at the Age of 94

The Spanish parishioner who achieved global fame for her infamous restoration attempt on a valuable religious painting has passed away at the age 94.

Cecilia Giménez, from the town of Borja in northeast Spain, became a global sensation thirteen years ago after she attempted to repaint a century-old painting known as Ecce Homo housed within her local church.

Giménez's restoration effort quickly went viral and earned the moniker "Potato Jesus", because the resulting likeness of Christ's head bearing a resemblance to a hairy monkey.

Local Confirmation and Homage

The 94-year-old's passing was confirmed by the town's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he described her as a "great lover of painting from a very early age".

"Descansa en paz 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 deteriorated condition it presented, Cecilia, acting in good faith, chose to apply new paint over the original".

The Artwork's Background and the Now-Infamous Act

The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) by nineteenth-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had been held for over a hundred years in the Santuario de la Misericordia close to Zaragoza.

In 2012, Giménez, who was 81 years old, explained that church members had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had received permission from the local priest to do the work.

She also noted that anybody who came into the Church would have seen she was painting over the existing artwork.

An Unexpected Economic Lifeline

The impact of the restoration led to the creation of the "Monkey Christ" internet phenomenon and saw the once quiet town of Borja rapidly turn into a significant visitor attraction.

The municipality, which had previously welcomed just five thousand tourists per year, received over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and generated more than €50,000 for charity from the interest.

Today, officials estimate that between 15,000 and 20,000 tourists travel to Borja each year to view the famous portrait, which is now protected by a pane of glass.

Legacy and Local Support

After recovering from the initial backlash, with support from local residents and others around the world, Giménez later hold an exhibition of her paintings featuring twenty-eight of her personal works.

She was commended by the mayor for her generosity and years of faithful service to the parish.

In the end, what began as a well-intentioned but flawed act of restoration created an improbable piece of pop culture and provided remarkable tourist revenue to a small Spanish town.