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Ham-fisted amateur botches 'restoration' of Christ painting

By 윤민식

Published : Aug. 23, 2012 - 15:37

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(AFP) (AFP)


An elderly woman's catastrophic attempt to "restore" a century-old oil painting of Christ in a Spanish church has provoked popular uproar, and amusement.

The well-intentioned but ham-fisted amateur artist, in her 80s, took it upon herself to fill in the patches and paint over the original work, which depicted Christ crowned with thorns, his sorrowful gaze lifted to heaven.

Her work done, the "restored" figure looks somewhat like a monkey with fur surrounding a pale face and a child-like drawing of eyes, a cartoon-style nose and a crooked smudge for a mouth.

Titled "Ecce Homo" (Behold the Man), the original was no masterpiece, painted in two hours in 1910 by a certain Elias Garcia Martinez directly on a column in the church at Borja, northeastern Spain.

It showed its age, too, with humidity in the Iglesia del Santuario de Misericordia gradually eating away at patches of paint.

But the new version has become a national joke, reminiscent of fictional film character Mr. Bean's comic attempt to restore Whistler's Mother after he sneezes on it and mistakenly wipes off the face.

"The explanations she gave were incoherent: she said she had been restoring it for years and had to give up before completing it," said Borja deputy major and culture official Juan Maria de Ojeda, responsible for the church.

Social networks and online news sites were deluged with comments by users, many of whom created their own versions of the restored work incorporating the faces of King Juan Carlos or Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

On his Twitter account, film director Alex de Iglesia joked: "Let her finish it for the love of God."

The town hall has not yet decided whether to sue over the botch job, which was performed a month ago but has only now hit the headlines in the Spanish press.

"It would be different if it was vandalism," said the town hall's De Ojeda.

But "she was not trying to denigrate the dignity of the place," he added.

A team of art restoration experts -- professionals this time -- will evaluate the damage to see if the work can be restored to its original state, he said.

"More important than the value of the painting itself, is the fact that an uncontrolled action like this can take place," fretted Manuel Gracia Rivas, head of a Borja heritage study centre, Cesbor, who first sounded the alarm over the impromptu restoration. (AFP)



<관련 한글 기사>


예수님 얼굴 '원숭이' 만들어놓은 할머니


스페인의 한 80대 노인이 교회에 그려진 19세기 벽화를 직접 복원하겠다고 나섰다가 원작을 '심하게' 훼손해 소송에 휘말릴 위기에 처했다. 

23일 영국 일간 가디언과 BBC 등에 따르면 스페인 북동부의 사라고사 인근에 있는 한 교회에는 19세기에 그려진 벽화 '에케 호모(ecce homo)'가 있다. 

A combination of three photos provided by the Centre de Estudios Borjanos on Wednesday shows the original version of the painting Ecce Homo (left) by 19th-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez, the deteriorated version (centered) and the restored version by an elderly woman in Spain. (AFP) A combination of three photos provided by the Centre de Estudios Borjanos on Wednesday shows the original version of the painting Ecce Homo (left) by 19th-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez, the deteriorated version (centered) and the restored version by an elderly woman in Spain. (AFP)


에케 호모는 라틴어로 '이 사람을 보라'라는 뜻으로, 가시 면류관을 쓰고 박해받는 예수를 그린 그림을 가리킨다.

이 교회를 다니던 80대 여성 세실리아 히메네스는 벽화가 오랫동안 습기 때문에 탈색돼가는 것을 보고 안타깝게 여긴 나머지 직접 붓을 들고 복원에 나서기로 했다.

그러나 의도는 좋았지만, 결과는 참담했다. 원작과는 딴판인 작품이 탄생한 것이다. 복원된 그림을 보고 면류관을 쓴 예수의 모습을 상상하기 어려울 정도다.

BBC는 복원된 작품에 대해 "맞지 않은 옷을 입은 털 많은 원숭이가 있는 것 같다"고 비유했다.

스페인 언론들도 "역사상 최악의 복원", "망친 작업" 등으로 표현했고, 농담하기를 좋아하는 일부 사람들은 '에케 호모'를 빗대어 '이 원숭이를 보라'라는 세례명을 붙이기도 했다.

평범했던 이 벽화는 언론의 주목을 받으며 현재 마을의 명물로 떠오른 상태다.

그러나 원작을 그린 화가의 유족들은 엄청난 충격을 표현하며 법적 소송도 검토하는 것으로 전해졌다.

지방 관리들도 그녀가 비록 좋은 의도에서 복원 작업을 했지만, 예술품을 망쳤기 때문에 노인을 상대로 소송을 제기하는 방안을 배제하지 않고 있다.

이에 대해 세실리아는 스페인 공영방송 TVE에 출연해 교회 사제들도 그녀가 복원작업을 한다는 사실을 알았으며 "교회에 온 모든 사람이 내가 그림을 그리는 것을 봤다"고 주장했다.