Borja makes lemonade out of lemons

[peregrina2000]

A terribly botched restoration of a church painting had become a tourist attraction in the town of Borja. http://www.sj-r.com/news/20160316/spanish-town-looks-to-revive-botched-restored-fresco-success

Apparently 160,000 have come to see this restoration, not sure I understand why, though. The town hopes that adding a museum and interpretation center will bring a steady stream of 30,000 visitors a year to what Dona Cecilia, in her 80s, did to the century old painting of Christ's face.

Though I am kind of at a loss to understand this phenomenon, I certainly do hope it doesn't mean I'll have trouble finding a place to stay this summer on the Camino Castellano-Aragonés.

 

[VNwalking]

I don't get it either, but Dona Cecelia must now be a local heroine of sorts. The BBC and other international sources have picked up the story too. It's even in Wikipedia:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...istian-ecce-homo-fresco-of-jesus-9928738.html.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecce_Homo_(Elías_García_Martínez)
Really hoping you don't have to sleep on the church porch because of this, Laurie!

 

[AlanSykes]

T

A terribly botched restoration of a church painting had become a tourist attraction in the town of Borja. http://www.sj-r.com/news/20160316/spanish-town-looks-to-revive-botched-restored-fresco-success

Apparently 160,000 have come to see this restoration, not sure I understand why, though. The town hopes that adding a museum and interpretation center will bring a steady stream of 30,000 visitors a year to what Dona Cecilia, in her 80s, did to the century old painting of Christ's face.

Though I am kind of at a loss to understand this phenomenon, I certainly do hope it doesn't mean I'll have trouble finding a place to stay this summer on the Camino Castellano-Aragonés.

The curious case of the botched restoration of Borja's Ecce Homo gets stranger, with the premier this evening of an opera based on the story, presumably bringing even more tourists to the town.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/13/arts/music/ecce-homo-fresco-borja-opera.html?_r=0

The fresco was tightly shut up when I walked past last autumn, so I never got to see it. I liked Borja, and its heavy tasty DO wine, but I thought Tarazona, the following day, was a far lovelier town, with its well-preserved judería, handsome basilica, 18th century arcaded plaza de toros and channelled river bisecting the town.

 

[oursonpolaire]

While I agree that Tarazona is a nicer town than Borja, the walk up to the Sanctuario does give you great views. To my mind, it's not a botched restoration, but rather a re-interpretation of the original-- the artist was accomplished and she clearly did this on purpose. Accommodation in Borja is a challenge, but not on account of this painting.

 

[SYates]

Here is a before/after picture of the fresco: http://blog.donquijote.org/2015/02/the-borja-painting
Buen Camino, SY

 

[mspath]

Read today's update in The Guardian re the Borja painting and its recently resurfaced original source. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...resco-monkey-christ-resurfaces-zaragoza-spain