A restoration project taken upon by an elderly woman in Spain, has gone terribly wrong. This week Cecilia Giménez, who is in her 80s, came forth to claim responsibility for changing a century old fresco "Ecce Homo" of Jesus crowned with thorns in Santuario de la Misericolrdia, which is a Roman Catholic church in Borja, Spain.
Giménez went public and said on Spanish national TV that she had tried to restore the fresco and that it was her favorite local representation of Jesus. She stated to be upset because parts of it had flaked off because of moisture on the church's walls so she took it upon herself to fix.
Authorities had thought it was a vandalism at first and Giménez said that she was confused by the uproar because she had worked on the wall during the day with the approval of local clergy. According to the New York Times she said, "The priest knew it. I've never tried to do anything hidden."
She claimed to have worked on the wall using a photo of the original but her handiwork looks nothing like the century old fresco.
The badly done restoration taken upon by Giménez came to light when descendants of the artist, Elías García Martínez, who did the original, made a proposal to donate money for its restoration.
Juan Mario Ojeda, the city councillor in charge of cultural affairs said to the BBC, "I think she had good intentions. Next week she will meet with a repairer and explain what kind of materials she used. If we can't fix it, we will probably cover the wall with a photo of the painting."
Authorities say legal action has been considered against Giménez but state that priority was to work on returning the fresco to its original state.
Click here for pictures of the botched restoration.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
