Ironic art fans have launched a petition to save the “world’s worst restoration” — a retouched, century-old church painting of Christ that has become an international joke.
Cecilia Gimenez, described as being in her 80s, has won global fame with her horribly botched impromptu attempt to restore an oil painting of Christ crowned with thorns, his sorrowful gaze raised to heaven.
The “restored” painting looks like a pale monkey’s face surrounded by fur, with misshapen eyes and nose, and a crooked smudge for a mouth, a style some wits have compared to Picasso’s.
Photo: Reuters
Titled Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), the original was painted in oil in 1910 directly onto a column in the Iglesia del Santuario de Misericordia church in Borja, northeastern Spain.
It was showing its age as the paint deteriorated over the years.
However, the “restored” version has provided grist for an explosion of jokes throughout the world this week.
Commentators in Spain inserted the faces of Spanish King Juan Carlos or Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy into their own, digital versions of the restored painting.
More than 5,000 people have now signed an online petition to halt the town’s plan to return the painting to its pre-restoration glory.
The restoration “reveals a subtle criticism of the Church’s creationist theories, while questioning a resurgence of new idols,” says the petition launched by a user on www.change.org, comparing the retouched painting to the work of Goya, Munch and Modigliani.
Gimenez said she had been patching up the painting for years, with the church’s knowledge.
“The priest knew,” the elderly, neatly dressed lady in spectacles told public television TVE. “Everyone who came in could see me painting.”
Despite the derisive coverage, with some media calling it the worst restoration in history, Gimenez said she was an accomplished artist.
“I had a four-room exhibition — I sold 40 paintings,” Gimenez said.
The church painting was no masterpiece, completed in two hours by a local man, Elias Garcia Martinez, just over a century ago.
However, the original artist’s granddaughter, Teresa Garcia, was unimpressed.
“Until now the only thing she had touched was the tunic,” Garcia told TVE. “The problem is that now she has meddled with the head and, clearly, she has destroyed the painting.”
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS