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Experts call for regulation after latest botched art restoration in Spain


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24 minutes ago, karbatal said:

We have a trillion frescos in villages where only 10 people live, so sometimes some old lady decides to act. 

 she wanted to call the manager but couldn't get a hold of him/her so she decided to take a hand at the restoration herself? hahaha

hey what's the Karen equivalent in Spain btw? 😅

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3 hours ago, ThomasW said:

 she wanted to call the manager but couldn't get a hold of him/her so she decided to take a hand at the restoration herself? hahaha

hey what's the Karen equivalent in Spain btw? 😅

I don't think there is one.

We have the Marujas but that's mostly used for housewives that love to gossip and therefore get in other people's business. 

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Don't worry babes. Those images are valuable but they were made by the trillions during the XIX century by people who copied the same image over and over. We have a lot in every little village. I'm sure in Italy and Portugal it's the same.

Of course THERE IS a law against it. Those patronising articles by Anglo Saxon press, always ready to put down Mediterranean countries, are click bait 

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On 6/24/2020 at 5:53 AM, elijah said:

Travesty. Monkey Christ is the worst 😞

I love the Monkey Christ.

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24 minutes ago, nightcutter said:

I love the Monkey Christ.

Me too.

In a way it's the icon of an era.

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1 hour ago, horn said:

So glad that both Last Supper & Mona Lisa are not in Spain.

We have other important pieces of art in the considered best museum of paintings  in the world, thank you very much

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1 hour ago, karbatal said:

We have other important pieces of art in the considered best museum of paintings  in the world, thank you very much

Prado is indeed one of the best museums for paintings I have ever been to and among like top 3 in Europe.

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On 6/26/2020 at 1:34 PM, karbatal said:

We have other important pieces of art in the considered best museum of paintings  in the world, thank you very much

I rather go to El Prado and Reina Sofia over seeing the stupid Mona Lisa any day :inlove: 

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1 minute ago, ThomasW said:

true, the one on display at the Louvre is a fake one anyway

Really? :lol: 

I was in a bad mood with because there were so many tourists so I skipped it and I'm honestly ok with that. 

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6 hours ago, ULIZOS said:

Really? :lol: 

I was in a bad mood with because there were so many tourists so I skipped it and I'm honestly ok with that. 

It’s like a santimeter big. A big let down and Leonardo has better works...

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On 6/26/2020 at 7:34 PM, karbatal said:

We have other important pieces of art in the considered best museum of paintings  in the world, thank you very much

The museum should try and get the Monkey Christ!

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  • 4 months later...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/10/spanish-statue-bodge-up-is-a-new-rival-to-borjas-monkey-christ

And here we go again...

Spanish statue bodge-up is a new rival to Borja's Monkey Christ

Trump-like visage grafted on to a carving in Palencia recalls earlier inept restoration

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0ba3ca42eec7934c0c0155914636cd99ef4453bc/0_0_2560_1536/master/2560.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=8d5c979a64035d91ed8532d82f4d1664
The statue in Palencia, Spain is on an ornate, early 20th-century building. Photograph: Facebook/Twitter

In the footsteps of the unintentionally iconic Monkey Christ, the Tintin St George, the near-fluorescent Virgin and Child– not to mention the less than sinlessly executed Immaculate Conception – comes … well, it’s hard to say.

The latest Spanish restoration effort to provoke anguished headlines and much social media snarking is, or rather, was, a carved figure adorning an ornate, early 20th-century building in the north-western city of Palencia.

What was once the smiling face of a woman next to some livestock has been replaced with a crude countenance that bears a passing resemblance to the incumbent US president, Donald Trump. Or one of the Sand People from Star Wars. Or something from a cheese-induced nightmare. Or, to be honest, pretty much anything you wish to project on to it.

The bodged restoration came to light after an artist placed pictures of the offending visage on Facebook on Saturday.

“The pictures are a bit blurry, but you can see the prank perfectly well,” said Antonio Guzmán Capel. “It looks like the head of a cartoon character.”

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/16b0280444fe412cd9cd17115390b06cc6db7ee1/0_191_2120_1272/master/2120.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=ad99392f8dff7e79247d65fd16be3961
The 20th-century Ecce Homo-style fresco of Christ, in Borja, Spain before and after an amateur restoration. Photograph: Centro de estudios Borjanos/AP

Palencia, he added ruefully, now had an attraction to rival the Monkey Christ that propelled the town of Borja to global fame eight years ago after a devout parishioner took it upon herself to restore Elías García Martínez’s Ecce Homo before it flaked and faded into oblivion.

“I’m sure whoever did it got paid for it,” said Guzmán. “But the bigger crime was committed by the person who commissioned it and then tried to carry on as though nothing was wrong.”

Palencia’s reaction may be one of shock and anger for now, but the authorities in Borja managed to find a way to turn the great Monkey Christ fiasco of 2012 to their advantage.

That year, almost 50,000 people visited the small church where the Ecce Homo is displayed behind a protective screen. Thousands still visit the church every year and a small museum has sprung up where people can buy Ecce Homo key rings, T-shirts, teddy bears and mugs. As well as employing two caretakers, the church-museum also yields revenue that is used to help fund places at Borja’s care home for the elderly.

But for restoration experts in Spain, the latest bodged job is another example of the need for proper training, protection and investment.

“THIS #IsNotARestoration,” Spain’s Professional Association of Restorers and Conservators said in a tweet, adding, perhaps a little unnecessarily: “It’s NOT a professional intervention.”

The original sculpture was removed after being damaged during restoration work on the buildingThe restored sculpture bears little resemblance to the original, which was replaced after being damaged during restoration work on the building

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On 6/25/2020 at 5:40 PM, Je5u5 said:

Me too.

In a way it's the icon of an era.

It’s really so meta, you could discuss the implications for hours. :lmao:
 

also what I don’t get is how it seems like the hobby restaurateurs have never held a brush in their hands before. It’s just so overly bad, and I’m not kidding when I say that I could do it much much better. Why are they so bad at painting? They’re on toddler level. 

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On 11/11/2020 at 3:08 AM, Rock said:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/10/spanish-statue-bodge-up-is-a-new-rival-to-borjas-monkey-christ

And here we go again...

Spanish statue bodge-up is a new rival to Borja's Monkey Christ

Trump-like visage grafted on to a carving in Palencia recalls earlier inept restoration

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0ba3ca42eec7934c0c0155914636cd99ef4453bc/0_0_2560_1536/master/2560.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=8d5c979a64035d91ed8532d82f4d1664
The statue in Palencia, Spain is on an ornate, early 20th-century building. Photograph: Facebook/Twitter

In the footsteps of the unintentionally iconic Monkey Christ, the Tintin St George, the near-fluorescent Virgin and Child– not to mention the less than sinlessly executed Immaculate Conception – comes … well, it’s hard to say.

The latest Spanish restoration effort to provoke anguished headlines and much social media snarking is, or rather, was, a carved figure adorning an ornate, early 20th-century building in the north-western city of Palencia.

What was once the smiling face of a woman next to some livestock has been replaced with a crude countenance that bears a passing resemblance to the incumbent US president, Donald Trump. Or one of the Sand People from Star Wars. Or something from a cheese-induced nightmare. Or, to be honest, pretty much anything you wish to project on to it.

The bodged restoration came to light after an artist placed pictures of the offending visage on Facebook on Saturday.

The pictures are a bit blurry, but you can see the prank perfectly well,” said Antonio Guzmán Capel. “It looks like the head of a cartoon character.”

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/16b0280444fe412cd9cd17115390b06cc6db7ee1/0_191_2120_1272/master/2120.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=ad99392f8dff7e79247d65fd16be3961
The 20th-century Ecce Homo-style fresco of Christ, in Borja, Spain before and after an amateur restoration. Photograph: Centro de estudios Borjanos/AP

Palencia, he added ruefully, now had an attraction to rival the Monkey Christ that propelled the town of Borja to global fame eight years ago after a devout parishioner took it upon herself to restore Elías García Martínez’s Ecce Homo before it flaked and faded into oblivion.

“I’m sure whoever did it got paid for it,” said Guzmán. “But the bigger crime was committed by the person who commissioned it and then tried to carry on as though nothing was wrong.”

Palencia’s reaction may be one of shock and anger for now, but the authorities in Borja managed to find a way to turn the great Monkey Christ fiasco of 2012 to their advantage.

That year, almost 50,000 people visited the small church where the Ecce Homo is displayed behind a protective screen. Thousands still visit the church every year and a small museum has sprung up where people can buy Ecce Homo key rings, T-shirts, teddy bears and mugs. As well as employing two caretakers, the church-museum also yields revenue that is used to help fund places at Borja’s care home for the elderly.

But for restoration experts in Spain, the latest bodged job is another example of the need for proper training, protection and investment.

“THIS #IsNotARestoration,” Spain’s Professional Association of Restorers and Conservators said in a tweet, adding, perhaps a little unnecessarily: “It’s NOT a professional intervention.”

The original sculpture was removed after being damaged during restoration work on the buildingThe restored sculpture bears little resemblance to the original, which was replaced after being damaged during restoration work on the building

I didn't realise this was meant to be the same piece when I first saw it. However, someone in the article refers to it as a prank?

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