Elderly Woman Who Botched Religious Fresco Demands Royalties

Ecce Homo by 19th-century painter Elías García Martínez on the walls of the church of Santuario de Misericordia Photo: gawker.com (click photo for larger image)This planet just keeps getting weirder and weirder! We all remember the story that was all over the news about an elderly Spanish woman, Cecilia Gimenez, who ruined a damaged religious fresco with her botched restoration of it. Authorities had threatened to sue Mrs. Gimenez, because her attempt hadn’t been authorized. However, the “artist” gained tremendous support because she’d undertaken the work with “good intentions.” Now...it turns out that a fair amount of profits have been made as a result of this mess--because people are so curious to see the work (now known as “Ecce Mono” (meaning “Behold the Monkey”). So, Mrs. Gimenez is now demanding royalties, from fees collected from visitors to the church, which her attorney claims will go to charity. You can read more about this entire affair HERE... 

The bottom line here is that this attempt at a restoration turned about to be an abomination--good intentions aside. I would prefer that nobody make any money on it. It is also my hope that the work will be properly restored--out of respect for both the original artist, Elias Garcia Martinez--and the subject matter of the painting.