Quote of the day

A well-meaning woman transforms a venerable image of Jesus into a monkey

Published August 23, 2012 10:21PM (EDT)

Elias Garcia Martinez painted "Ecce Homo" (Behold the Man) on the wall of a church near  Zaragoza, Spain, over 100 years ago.  The depiction of Christ has been a source of pride and inspiration for the Spanish town -- that is, until town resident Cecilia Gomez, who is in her 80s, sought out to restore the damaged fresco.

Of the unfortunate restoration, BBC correspondent Christian Fraser said, "The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic." (Punsters have taken to calling it "Ecce Mono" -- Behold the Monkey.)

But fear not, for the city has a plan. Juan Josi Ojeda, the city's culture council member,  told BBC, "If we can't fix it, we will probably cover the wall with a photo of the painting."

Gomez claims the church’s priest gave her permission and told the BBC, "Everybody who came into the church could see I was painting."


By Prachi Gupta

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com.

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Art Bbc Jesus Monkey Painting Spain