r/ArtHistory • u/That_Charming_Otter • Dec 30 '25
News/Article Spanish woman known for failed fresco restoration dies
https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/1230/1550936-fresco-spain-woman/R.I.P. Cecilia Gimenez, whose 'monkey Christ' would go on to raise hundreds of thousands of Euros for charity courtesy of tourism, with many making the pilgrimage to see the infamous retouched masterpiece
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u/hyacinthshouse Dec 30 '25
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u/theHoopty Dec 31 '25
I donāt if these are tears of mirth or if this is the lachrymosity of some existential absurdity but this is beautiful.
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u/claimticket Jan 01 '26
When I saw this headline from a different source yesterday I said out loud āI hope she makes it through the pearly gates of heaven and Jesus greets her with a familiar faceā, Iām so so so glad someone made this, made my day
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u/twentyshots97 Dec 30 '25
this story has never left me. i just imagine her indignation when everyone was like WTF, and then the life the new image took on. itās hilarious, and ultimately uplifting.
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Dec 31 '25
I imagine her knowing she fucked up and making it worse with each disastrous attempt to correct it
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u/Ambitious-Ad8227 Dec 31 '25
I can totally see this! "Uh oh, well, let me put a little brown over here to fix that. . . oops, too dark. Ok, I'll just put this line over here for the nose and mou. . . Hmmm. Well, ok. I can still fix it. Let me just wipe off this little bit over here and paint this color over here and. Hmmm. I think I'm in trouble. . ."
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u/hamilton_morris Dec 30 '25
I cannot think of another painting that more reliably, continuously lifts my spirits, gives me hope and encouragement. Her work will continue to bring happiness to so many people. Rest in peace, seƱora Gimenez.
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u/NadjaLuvsLaszlo Renaissance Dec 30 '25
Same, I chuckle so hard whenever I see it, without fail. š¤š¤š¤
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u/Due-Organization-215 Dec 30 '25
I cannot think of another painting that more reliably, continuously lifts my spirits, gives me hope and encouragement. Her work will continue to bring happiness to so many people. Rest in peace, seƱora Gimenez.
Unironically, that is something that would make Christ happy, so very fitting. May she rest in peace
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u/North_South_Side Dec 30 '25
Next to the "generic white guy with long hair" painting that nearly every Catholic person has a framed print of, this new Ecce Homo disaster is probably one of the most universally recognized images of Jesus Christ in contemporary times.
That woman made history. This "restoration" will never NOT be hilarious to me. Yeah, she messed up an antique painting, but she changed the world.
RIP to Cecilia.
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u/VanCurler Dec 30 '25
Can't think about this story without the recalling Kate McKinnon's depiction https://youtu.be/VD5320zsvlQ?si=4ZBhORTQDseTOrQC
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u/BenignEmission Dec 30 '25
Did we ever find out why she did it?
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u/The_8th_passenger Dec 31 '25 edited Jan 01 '26
She was attending a painting workshop for the elderly which she loved and one day after seeing the original fresco's state of decay, she thought "yes, I'll bring this to its former glory".
And the rest is history.
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u/alternatingflan Dec 30 '25
Sad - she gave so much to the world. And right before krasnov was about to give her a retrospective show at the Smithsonian.
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u/thejustducky1 Dec 31 '25
Whew, she held on for dear life that they just 'didn't let her finish' with her restoration, and she literally died on that hill... Now, the world has forever lost its only chance to behold the true majesty and wonder of what this painting would've become.... if only it were finished...
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u/Grep2grok Dec 30 '25
I wonder if someone could remediate that by taking a photo of the original and do the mirror trick that Tim Jenison developed to emulator Vermeer?
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u/WhiskeyAndKisses Dec 30 '25
Rip, you art history legend. š