Zaragoza, Spain, Dec 29 (EFE).- Cecilia Giménez, author of the “Ecce Homo” 2012 viral restoration, died on Monday at 94, the mayor of Borja, Spain, Eduardo Arilla, confirmed to EFE.
”We have lost a beloved person,” a woman “of immense kindness” who had a “hard” life and was “very strong” because she knew how to withstand the “pressure” of “the ‘Ecce Homo’ phenomenon,” the mayor said.
The “Ecce Homo” of Borja was overlooked by everyone until Cecilia Giménez’s failed restoration in 2012 received media coverage, sparking an unstoppable cascade of worldwide reactions and memes and drawing the world’s attention to this small Aragonese municipality of about 5,000 people.
Cecilia Giménez, with all her good intentions, tried to restore the small mural painting in the Church of the Sanctuary of Mercy in Borja, but in doing so, she altered the original work, sparking criticism and laughter.
However, this situation, which spread beyond Spain and made headlines around the world, turned into a movement of support for the author, an elderly woman in her eighties.
A decade after the controversial restoration, Borja saw more than 10,000 visitors a year coming from around the globe to see her ‘work.’ In total, over 200,000 visited during that period, giving the town unexpected international exposure.
Cecilia Giménez decided to act on the original painting when she saw the deterioration, and her intervention put her town on the international tourism map.
This even led to the creation of the documentary short film “My Ecce Homos,” directed by Marco Rosatto, PhD in Sociology, based on a final project for his degree in Humanities, and the opera “Behold the Man,” by American librettist Andrew Flack, composed and directed by Paul Fowler, which premiered at the Evelyn Smith Music Theatre at Arizona State University in the United States.
The mayor of Borja highlighted on Monday that thanks to the money raised from ticket sales and the sale of “Ecce Homo” promotional items, the nursing home where Cecilia lived is now fully funded for people who cannot afford it.
”A social phenomenon that has become a social cause” thanks to Cecilia, who “was kind until the end,” said Arilla, who assured that she died as she wanted, alongside her son, who was also a resident of the Borja nursing home.
Borja will bid farewell to Cecilia Giménez on Tuesday at a funeral. EFE
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