Jesus Painting Restoration Goes Wrong: Well-Intentioned Old Lady Destroys 100 Year Old Fresco

A painting of Jesus Christ that hung on the walls of the Sanctuary of Mercy Church in Spain was in desperate need of a touch up. So an elderly parishioner decided to do everyone a favor and restore the fresco herself. Well, it didn’t turn out well.

The woman, in her 80s, completely destroyed the painting.

The BBC reports that the Jesus Christ fresco, Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez, had been in the church for over 100 years and had started to deteriorate due to moisture. The woman noticed that the painting needed a touch up so she brought her supplies to the church and started painting. Church officials didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.

Juan Maria Ojeda, the City Councillor in charge of cultural affairs, 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 BBC notes that the fresco wasn’t particularly valuable, but it did have plenty of sentimental value for the church.

Here’s a before and after photo of the Jesus Christ fresco.

It’s not that bad, right?

There’s no video of the incident, but I’m assuming that it must have happened like this:

[Update: Now that the painting has become famous, the woman who destroyed the painting is now looking to be compensated for her work.]