AN ELDERLY LADY has taken it upon herself to restore a 19th century Spanish fresco of Jesus Christ, with quite alarming results.

Ecce Homo by Elias Garcia Martinez has been on display in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near the north-eastern city of Zaragoza for over a hundred years.

A cultural centre which maintains an archive of religious artworks in the area discovered the alterations when another piece by Martinez was donated by his granddaughter.

Staff at the Centro de Estudios Borjanos then went to check on Ecce Homos at the Shrine of Mercy and were confronted with this:

They were expecting something a little more like this:

It appears that an elderly woman had become upset at the deterioration in the fresco and had decided to have a go at restoring it herself. It’s thought her work has been carried out in the past month. This image was taken last month at the church by photographers.

All images: Centro de Estudios Borjanos

The Centro de Estudios Borjanos has posted a blogpost following the interested, saying the centre had been contacted by media from around the world and had over 40,000 hits on its website.

It’s explained that the municipal authorities, professionals and skilled restorers are all examining ways in which to repair the damage, and the original artist’s family has spoken of the possibility of taking legal action.

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