Ecce Homo': The miraculous disaster that made a small Spanish town famous

"Many remember the Ecce Homo painting that decorates one of its walls not for the original 19th-century brushstrokes, but for the disastrous restoration carried out by a woman then just over 80 years old who acted spontaneously and without asking anyone's permission, though with good intentions. The work of Cecilia Gimenez, who passed away this Monday at the age of 94, was not only catastrophic, blurry, and unrecognizable, but also became an object of ridicule."

"Yet the botched restoration transformed the work, attributed to Elias Garcia Martinez and of little artistic value, into a worldwide phenomenon. Suddenly, the Ecce Homo and Borja were on everyone's radar. After Cecilia Gimenez attempted to restore the fresco about 50 centimeters high by 40 wide the history of the small Spanish town took an unexpected turn. What seemed like a disaster or even a crime against cultural heritage became a major historical event in Borja, a town of just over 5,000 inhabitants."

"Gimenez's work has been featured in documentaries, wine labels, T-shirts, and even an opera. Media outlets around the world, including The New York Times, Le Monde, The Telegraph, and the BBC, covered that miraculous disaster. Its impact was such that, from that moment on, the expression "ecce homo" has been used to refer to other failed restorations that followed not all carried out by well-meaning locals, but also by professionals."

Cecilia Gimenez, who died at age 94, attempted in 2012 to restore a small Ecce Homo fresco in Borja, Spain, producing a botched, blurred result. The failed restoration turned a modest Elias Garcia Martinez work into a global phenomenon, drawing media attention and visitors. Borja's economy and visibility increased through documentaries, wine labels, T-shirts, an opera, and widespread coverage by major outlets. The phrase 'ecce homo' became shorthand for failed restorations, both amateur and professional. Historical precedents exist in Spain, including an over-century-old amateur retouching alongside paintings by Fray Manuel Bayeu at the Charterhouse of Nuestra Señora de las Fuentes.

Read at english.elpais.com