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The elderly woman from Spain who made international headlines for her poorly executed restoration attempt on a cherished Jesus Christ fresco has died at the age of 94.

Cecilia Giménez, from the town of Borja in northeast Spain, became a global sensation thirteen years ago after she undertook to repaint a 100-year-old painting titled Ecce Homo housed within her parish church.

Giménez's handiwork spread across the internet and was dubbed "Monkey Christ", largely due to the resulting depiction of Christ's head bearing a resemblance to 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 acknowledged her as a "great enthusiast of painting from a very early age".

"Descansa en paz Cecilia, we will always remember you," Arilla wrote.

Arilla further referenced Giménez's "famous restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "because of the deteriorated condition it was in, Cecilia, acting in good faith, chose to repaint the work over".

The Painting's History and the Fateful Act

The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) painted by 19th century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had resided for over a century in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church close to Zaragoza.

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

She also noted that anybody who came into the Church would have seen she was painting over the existing artwork.

An Unexpected Tourist Boom

The impact of the restoration spawned the "Ecce Mono" internet phenomenon and saw the previously sleepy town of Borja quickly become a major visitor attraction.

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

Currently, officials say that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists visit Borja every year to see the notorious portrait, which is now protected by a pane of glass.

Legacy and Local Support

After recovering from the wave of criticism, with support from local residents and others around the world, Giménez later stage an art exhibition showcasing 28 of her own paintings.

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

In the end, what began as a well-intentioned but flawed art repair forged an unlikely piece of pop culture and provided unprecedented attention and resources to a small Spanish town.