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Church masterpiece 'restored' as Mr. Bean would do it
The efforts of an elderly parishioner to restore a 120-year-old fresco on a column inside a Spanish church have some wondering if a Mr. Bean movie was the inspiration for the effort.
The fresco, titled Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), is a depiction of Jesus Christ with a crown of thorns. It was painted on a wall of the Sanctuary of Mercy at Borja, near Zaragoza, Spain, by artist Elias Garcia Martinez more than a century ago.
Its troubling "restoration" occurred after the local Center for Borja Studies received the donation of a canvas done by Garcia from one his granddaughters who lives nearby, according to the center's blog.
Center staff noted that the only other known work by Garcia in the area was Ecce Homo, went to the church to photograph the fresco, and realized it was in bad shape.
Parishioner Cecilia Giménez said she was asked by the church to fix things up.
“The priest was aware … he knew,” she is quoted as saying in a report on Euronews.com. “Of course I did it because I was told to do it."
In its blog, the center expresses "astonishment" that "an intervention was done" on the painting.
"As unbelievable as it sounds, this is what remains of the work of an artist whose relatives still live in our city," the blog reads.
Giménez said her work was done in the open and nobody tried to stop her, according to Euronews.
"Everybody that came into the church saw me. I never tried to hide,” she is quoted as saying.
"Clearly, she has destroyed the painting," Garcia's granddaughter, Teresa Garcia, is quoted as saying.
The center says it doesn't know if the "restoration" can be fixed.
"We don’t know if this indescribable act has a solution, but there is no doubt that someone should adopt strict measures so that there is not a repetition of acts like this, which despite its intentions, should be strongly condemned," its blog says.
But in reader comments on the blog, some wonder whether the "restoration" is a repetition of a previous act, one from the 1997 Rowan Atkinson film "Bean."
“Something similar happened in the movie Mr. Bean. … It probably inspired whoever did this,” one commenter writes.
In the movie, Mr. Bean accidentally sneezes on the masterpiece "Whistler's Mother" and attempts a crude repair.
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The Ecce Homo "restoration" is arguably better than Bean's line drawing, and that might be just as well, because there's doubt that Ecce Homo can be returned to its original splendor. And at least one commenter on the blog sees a silver lining.
"I think that the city of Borja should conserve the painting in its current state," the person writes. "It could become a tourist attraction for the town.”
the american art forger ken perenyi should help out? kenperenyi@yahoo.com
I am a painter, as long as you have the reference which you do above and I take it there are even more photos of it prior to this version of restoration, this painting not only can be as great as it was but also with the type of restoration that should have been done in the first place made to it's previous glory when created. This is not a question, this is a fact. A good painter would take the time and do a great job, no question.
OK, now that my laughing slowed down enough to type I have to say .....well...after all the other comments...well..still chuckling...I'm glad nobody stopped her 'cause it made my day....nuf said
Mine too! I can't stop laughing everytime I look at the paintings!!
This has to be the best story of the year. (not being sacrilegious here) Love Mr Bean and this story made me laugh so hard, I had tears in my eyes. Hope someone is able to save the work of art. Comments have also been great.
ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!
I think when the church asked her to "fix things up" they did not explicitly said do it yourself. Maybe they meant take this money and hire someone competent.
I'm sorry but this story cracks me up! LMFAO!!! I only hope the old woman is not n any kind of trouble afterall she was just trying to help.
Let me see, the woman doing the "restoring" is blaming other because they didn't stop her? This is how Liberalism infects people all over the world – Liberals don't take responsibility for their own actions and always blame others to make themselves appear to be the victims.
You all are assuming that this lady has finished her restoration....she's just taking a break and the final work will be just as good as the original...as soon as she gets back on her med's, or off her med's, or on different med's, or she just needs a new paint brush, or.....laughing laughing ...the "restored scroll rollup" at the bottom would get a C grade in 9th grade art class. Not to bad.
I cant believe how bad this turned out, What did she do mush the painting into one smear blob? However I like the green background better than the original so I will give her props for that.
Autism paints...
What a shame they should have hired someone to restore this.. but what a funny comparison!!! LMAO 🙂
THe Mr. Bean clip is priceless!!
the only thing that would ahve made this funnier is if his head was tilted the opposite way
Is CNN allowed to link to a YouTube video that is clearly copyright infringed?
Are people allowed to use the names of famous celebrities to post inane comments on message boards?
I don't think "James Caan" is profiting from this .. but CNN is.
There is something called fair use. Look it up.