🔗 Share this article Spanish-born Woman Who Found Fame for Botching a Famous Fresco Restoration Dies at Age 94 Cecilia Giménez's restoration of the Ecce Homo artwork. The Spanish parishioner who made international headlines for her infamous repair job on a cherished Jesus Christ fresco has died at the age of 94. Cecilia Giménez, a resident of the town of Borja in northeast Spain, rose to prominence thirteen years ago after she undertook to restore a 100-year-old painting titled Ecce Homo located in her local church. Giménez's handiwork spread across the internet and was dubbed "Monkey Christ", largely due to the altered depiction of Christ's head bearing a resemblance to a hairy monkey. Local Announcement and Tribute The 94-year-old's passing was announced by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he acknowledged her as a "great enthusiast of painting from a very early age". "Rest in peace Cecilia, we will always remember you," the mayor posted. 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 presented, Cecilia, acting in good faith, decided to repaint the work over". The Painting's Background and the Now-Infamous Intervention The Ecce Homo ("This is the Man" in Latin) painted by 19th century artist Elias Garcia Martinez had resided for over a century in the Santuario de la Misericordia close to Zaragoza. In 2012, Giménez, then 81, explained that parishioners had "always repaired everything here", and that she had received permission from the parish priest to proceed. She also noted that anybody who came into the church would have seen she was applying paint to the original artwork. An Unexpected Tourist Boom The aftermath of the restoration spawned the "Monkey Christ" internet phenomenon and transformed 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, attracted over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and managed to raise over €50,000 for charity from the interest. Currently, local authorities say that between 15,000 and 20,000 tourists travel to Borja each year to view the notorious portrait, which is now displayed behind a protective shield of glass. Later Life and Local Support After recovering from the initial backlash, backed by the townspeople and well-wishers globally, Giménez later stage an exhibition of her paintings showcasing twenty-eight of her own works. She was commended by the mayor for her generosity and decades of dedication to the church. In the end, what began as a sincere but unsuccessful art repair created an unlikely piece of pop culture and brought unprecedented tourist revenue to a small Spanish town.