'Heritage attack': Another artwork destroyed in Spain after amateur attempt at restoration
A group of professional restorers in Spain is calling for greater government regulation after a botched attempt to clean a copy of a famous painting by baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo resulted in an unrecognizable Virgin Mary.
The Valencia-based owner of the copy of The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables (the original is in the Prado Museum in Madrid) sent the painting to a furniture restorer to be cleaned for 1,200 euros, The Guardian reported . But the artwork was left distorted despite two attempts to fix it.
Spain has been hit by yet another bungling restorer, who turned this Virgin Mary painting into an unrecognizable blob: https://t.co/G2uKfLNf8o pic.twitter.com/0ASSjL1ybZ
— Artnet (@artnet) June 23, 2020
Spain’s Professional Association for Restorers and Conservators (ACRE) called it a “heritage attack,” according to a translated copy of a statement issued by the group. The association urged people not to call this “vandalizing act” a restoration as it would call into question the legitimacy of their profession.
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“We want to make it clear that no professional with an official academic background would carry out this kind of heritage attack,” the statement said.
The group also decried the lack of regulations that allow anyone without the appropriate skills and knowledge to attempt to restore artworks. The association called for the government to regulate the industry and impose stricter sanctions on people who damage precious artworks under the guise of restoration.
A church in northern #Spain's Navarre hired an arts and crafts teacher to restore a 16th-century wooden statue of St. George, but the end result looks more like a cartoon character than a carving of an honored figure pic.twitter.com/uVrTnxltEN
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) June 30, 2018
This is not the first time a famous artwork has been botched in such a manner in Spain. In June 2018, a 16th-century statue of Saint George and the dragon came under scrutiny after a local artist attempted to restore the statue, but made it look more like a cartoon character. The Church of St Michael in Estella, Navarre, paid about 33,000 euros ($50,000) to restore the statue to its original state and was fined another 6,000 euros ($9,000), The Guardian reported .
In 2012, a fresco of Jesus Christ by Spanish painter Elias Garcia Martinez was rendered unrecognizable after an amateur painter’s attempt to fix it. The painting, which was called Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) came to be known as Ecce Mono (Behold the Monkey) after the infamous restoration attempt. However, the fresco garnered international attention and a spike of tourists was observed in the town of Borja, Spain.