A well-meaning octogenarian has stunned art experts after taking it upon herself to restore a treasured century-old fresco - with distinctly amateurish results.
Elias Garcia Martinez's depiction of Jesus has held pride of place in a Spanish church for more than 120 years.
But over the past 18 months moisture in the church caused the fresco to deteriorate - prompting a local woman in her 80s to whip out her paintbrush and try and fix it herself.
Original: Elias Garcia Martinez's 'Ecce Homo', which has been admired by worshippers at the Sanctuary of Mercy Church in Zaragoza, Spain, for more than 120 years
Damaged: Moisture in the church caused the surface of the fresco, which has huge sentimental value, to deteriorate
'Restored': The image bears more resemblance to a character from Planet of the Apes than to Jesus after a woman in her 80's 'repaired' it without permission
The elderly woman did not consult the Sanctuary of Mercy Church in Zaragoza before she set about transforming the once beautiful depiction of Christ into something that now resembles a character from Planet of the Apes.
The church is always open to the public and the woman had completed her botched restoration job before anyone noticed what she was doing.
To make matters worse, Spain's Centro de Estudios Borjanos, which works to preserve artwork, had received a donation from Elias Garcia Martinez's granddaughter which they had planned to spend on restoring the damaged fresco.
A spokesman for the centre said: 'The value of the original work was not very high, but it was more of a sentimental value.
'It was by Elias Garcia Martinez, who is the father of two well-known artists. The lady, who is in her 80s, acted without authorisation from anyone.
'The church is always open because many people visit and although there is a guard, no one realised what the old woman was doing until she had finished.'
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