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The elderly woman from Spain who achieved global fame for her poorly executed restoration attempt on a valuable Jesus Christ fresco has died at the age of 94.

Cecilia Giménez, from the town of Borja in northern Spain, rose to prominence 13 years ago after she undertook to repaint a century-old painting titled Ecce Homo located in her parish church.

Giménez's handiwork spread across the internet and was dubbed "Potato Jesus", largely due to the altered likeness of Christ's head looking somewhat like a hairy monkey.

Official Confirmation and Homage

The nonagenarian's passing was announced by the town's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he described her as a "passionate lover of painting from a young age".

"Descansa en paz Cecilia, your memory will live on with us," Arilla wrote.

Arilla further referenced Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in August 2012, which "due to the deteriorated condition it presented, Cecilia, with the best intentions, chose to repaint the work over".

The Painting's History and the Fateful Intervention

The Ecce Homo ("This is the Man" in Latin) painted by nineteenth-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had been held for over a hundred years in the Santuario de la Misericordia near Zaragoza.

In 2012, Giménez, who was 81 years old, stated that parishioners had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had been given the go-ahead from the local priest to proceed.

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

An Unexpected Tourist Boom

The impact of the repaint job led to the creation of the "Ecce Mono" meme and saw the once quiet town of Borja quickly become a major tourist destination.

The town, which had previously welcomed just 5,000 tourists per year, received over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and generated more than €50,000 for charity from the interest.

Currently, local authorities estimate that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists travel to Borja each year to see the notorious portrait, which is now displayed behind a protective shield of glass.

Legacy and Local Support

Following the initial backlash, with support from local residents and well-wishers around the world, Giménez went on to hold an exhibition of her paintings featuring 28 of her personal paintings.

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

Ultimately, what began as a sincere but flawed act of restoration forged an unlikely piece of pop culture and provided unprecedented attention and resources to a humble Spanish town.