Botched Virgin Mary painting restoration brings back memories of ‘Potato Jesus’ artwork
Spain is notorious for botched restorations of prized artworks. Who can neglect the horrible restoration of the fresco portray of the Ecce Homo by the Spanish painter Elías García Martínez in 2012 that went viral? The restoration by Cecilia Gimenez, an untrained aged novice artist, left the unique art work which confirmed Jesus Christ topped with thorns being become what the web dubbed ‘Potato Jesus’ or ‘Monkey Christ’.
Ecce Homo by the Spanish painter Elías García Martínez (Left and center), after the restoration (Right).
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Wikipedia
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Now, an ill-fated artwork collector in Spain has suffered an analogous destiny when his copy of a portray of Virgin Mary by Baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was left unrecognizable. Europa Press reported that the personal collector from Valencia paid over $1300 for the Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables from 1678 to be restored by a furnishings restorer. However, the furnishings restorer clearly botched the portray, on condition that it was not furnishings. And regardless of trying to repair the portray two instances, the restorer solely managed to make it worse.
El ‘Ecce Homo’ valenciano: una Inmaculada de Murillo acaba desfigurada tras una desastrosa restauración https://t.co/LrHr7KVgpd pic.twitter.com/SspYSQOi2u
— eldiario.es (@eldiarioes) June 22, 2020
Last yr, one other botched restoration job had caught the web’s consideration when a 16th-Century statue of St George at a church in Spain’s Navarre was restored and ended up resembling a toy figurine.
16th-Century statue of St George at a church in Navarre earlier than (left) and after (proper) restoration.
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ARTUS RESTAURACIÓN PATRIMONIO
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In an announcement, Spain’s Professional Association of Restorers and Conservators (Acre) launched an announcement calling the incident an act of ‘vandalism’, condemning the shortage of authorized safety for artwork and warning that the business was at ‘serious risk of disappearing’ within the nation. The assertion mentioned, “This lack of regulation translates into an absence of protection of our heritage. In recent years, conservation-restoration professionals have been forced to emigrate or leave their professions due to a lack of opportunities.”
Fernando Carrera, a professor on the Galician School for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage and a former Acre president, advised the Guardian, “We see this kind of thing time and time again and yet it keeps on happening. I don’t think this guy — or these people — should be referred to as restorers. Let’s be honest: they’re bodgers who botch things up. They destroy things.”
Reports state that the artwork collector has now approached knowledgeable restorer in hopes of fixing his art work. Presently there is no such thing as a regulation in Spain that prohibits individuals who aren’t notably expert from restoring art work.
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