Spanish botched fresco artist sells work on eBay

December 13, 2012 @ 4:04 am

MADRID (AP) - The 80-year-old Spanish artist who became famous because of her botched restoration of a Christ fresco in a small-town church is auctioning one of her works on eBay for charity.

Celia Gimenez's oil painting "Las Bodegas de Borja" ("Borja's Wine Cellar"), was fetching (EURO)620 ($808) Thursday, doubling its starting price after 31 bids. The sale closes Monday.

Gimenez became a sensation in August when pictures spread on the Internet of an "Ecce Homo" ("Behold the Man") mural in a chapel in the town of Borja that she disfigured while trying to restore it. Twitter users redubbed it "Ecce Mono" ("Behold the Monkey").

The painting has since become a tourist attraction and the image has been used on T-shirts and wine labels.

A note on eBay says the auction's proceeds will go to the Catholic charity organization Caritas.


(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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