Weird-News: 'Amateur' Artist vs. 100-Year Old Painting

[arniejolt]

The results ain't pretty...

Ecce H*** (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez has held pride of place in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza for more than 100 years.

The woman took her brush to it after years of deterioration due to moisture.

Cultural officials said she had the best intentions and hoped it could be properly restored.
Donation

The woman, in her 80s, was reportedly upset at the way the fresco had deteriorated and took it on herself to "restore" the image.

BBC Europe correspondent Christian Fraser says the delicate brush strokes of Elias Garcia Martinez have been buried under a haphazard splattering of paint.

The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic, he says.

The woman appears to have realised she was out of her depth and contacted Juan Maria Ojeda, the city councillor in charge of cultural affairs.

Art historians are expected to meet at the church soon to discuss how to proceed.

Mr Ojeda said: "I think she had good intentions. Next week she will meet with a repairer and explain what kind of materials she used.

"If we can't fix it, we will probably cover the wall with a photo of the painting."

The fresco is not thought to be very valuable, but has a high sentimental value for local people.

Our correspondent says that to make matters worse, the local centre that works to preserve artworks had just received a donation from the painter's granddaughter which they had planned to use to restore the original fresco.

Huh, how about that, word filter still works...Anyway, this is from BBC News:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19349921

[dragoninforcer]

Shoulda stuck with the macaroni art.

[Gowienczyk]

.... wow. That is all I have to say.

[Cipher_Peon]

I remember seeing this on Twitter. I laughed plenty.

[Lawdog1521]

First, this is the first time in a long time I've clicked a link and immediately laughed out loud.

Second, I now realize there's an urgent need for me to start doing my art thread again.

Third, I kind of like the monkey version. It grows on you.

Fourth, my guess as to how it was done.

[BohemianMatt]

That is one creepy, hairy monkey.

[Bront20]

Oops...

[CJHobbes]

I always wonder what goes on in people's minds when they attempt things like this. What's more alarming is the fact that no one tried to stop her or ask what she was doing. I think it'd be rather obvious to notice an elderly woman messing around with a revered painting.

On that note, I'm going to open up Acid Pro and start re-recording "Pet Sounds."