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The elderly woman from Spain who achieved global fame for her infamous restoration attempt on a cherished Jesus Christ fresco has passed away at the age of 94.

Cecilia Giménez, from the town of Borja in northeast Spain, rose to prominence thirteen years ago after she attempted to repaint a 100-year-old fresco known as Ecce Homo located in her local church.

Giménez's handiwork spread across the internet and earned the moniker "Monkey Christ", because the resulting likeness of Christ's head looking somewhat like a hairy monkey.

Local Announcement and Tribute

The 94-year-old's passing was confirmed by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he described her as a "great lover of painting from a young age".

"Rest in peace Cecilia, your memory will live on with us," the mayor posted.

Arilla also paid tribute to Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "due to the deteriorated condition it presented, Cecilia, with the best intentions, decided to repaint the work over".

The Artwork's History and the Now-Infamous Act

The Ecce Homo ("This is the Man" in Latin) by 19th century artist Elias Garcia Martinez had resided for over a century in the Santuario de la Misericordia close to Zaragoza.

In 2012, Giménez, who was 81 years old, explained that church members had "always repaired everything here", and that she had been given the go-ahead from the local priest to do the work.

She also noted that anybody who entered the church would have seen she was applying paint to the existing image.

An Unexpected Economic Lifeline

The impact of the repaint job spawned the "Ecce Mono" meme and saw the previously sleepy town of Borja quickly become a major tourist destination.

The municipality, which had in the past seen only 5,000 visitors per year, received over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and generated more than €50,000 for charity from the attention.

Currently, officials say that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists travel to Borja every year to see the famous portrait, which is now displayed behind a pane of glass.

Later Life and Local Support

After recovering from the wave of criticism, backed by local residents and others globally, Giménez went on to stage an exhibition of her paintings showcasing twenty-eight of her personal paintings.

She was praised by the mayor for her generosity and decades of dedication to the parish.

Ultimately, what began as a well-intentioned but flawed art repair forged an unlikely piece of pop culture and provided remarkable tourist revenue to a humble Spanish town.