Cecilia Giménez, the Spanish woman whose botched restoration of a 19th-century mural became known as the 'Monkey Christ', has died aged 94. The amateur artist attempted to restore 'Ecce Homo' by Elías García Martínez in the Santuario de Misericordia church in Borja, north-east Spain, in 2012.
The restoration was widely mocked, with Giménez initially suffering anxiety and losing 17kg. However, the notoriety later brought benefits: she sold her own art on eBay and donated proceeds to a Catholic charity. The painting became a tourist attraction, with Ryanair adding flights to Zaragoza and the church charging admission.
The mural has generated about €600,000 for Borja, funding places at the local care home. In 2023, an opera based on the story premiered in Las Vegas. Mayor Eduardo Arilla paid tribute, noting her hard life as a widow with two disabled children, and said an Ecce Homo centre would be named after her.
