Cecilia Giménez, the Spanish churchgoer whose amateur restoration of a cherished fresco transformed it into the infamous 'Monkey Christ', has passed away at the age of 94.
The Restoration That Captured the World
In August 2012, Giménez, a devoted parishioner from the town of Borja in north-eastern Spain, attempted to restore the century-old 'Ecce Homo' fresco by 19th-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez. The work, which translates to 'Behold the Man', had been flaking away inside her local Sanctuary of Mercy Church for years.
With what officials described as the 'best intentions', she took it upon herself to repaint the deteriorating image of Jesus Christ. The result, however, was a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons. The altered face, bearing little resemblance to the original, was swiftly nicknamed 'Monkey Christ' by the online world.
From Backlash to Unlikely Legacy
The global ridicule was intense. The botched restoration inspired memes, a Halloween costume at an anime event in Atlanta, and even a website where people could try their own hand at 'fixing' the image. Giménez herself admitted in a later Sky Arts documentary that her work was unfinished, as she went on holiday partway through.
She also revealed she had realised she was out of her depth and contacted the local council for help, but it was too late. The relatives of the original artist demanded a professional restoration, which brought Giménez to tears.
Yet, the story took an unexpected turn. The notoriety of the 'Monkey Christ' turned the quiet town of Borja into a major tourist attraction. Visitor numbers skyrocketed from 5,000 to over 40,000 by 2013, and it continues to draw between 15,000 and 20,000 tourists annually. The fresco, now behind protective glass, became her unlikely legacy.
A Life of Devotion and Generosity
Despite the international fame for the restoration mishap, local officials remembered Giménez for her character. Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, paid tribute on Facebook, describing her as a 'great painting enthusiast from a young age'.
He praised her 'generosity' and 'dedication' to the church, qualities that shone despite a hard life. Funds generated from the tourism and the sale of Giménez's own paintings—she later staged an exhibition of 28 works—were directed to a hospital foundation that runs the care home where she lived at the time of her death.
Giménez came to see her intervention as a miracle that saved the painting from being lost entirely. Mayor Arilla marked her passing by calling 'one of the most famous characters of 2012' 'one more star in the sky'.
