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The Spanish parishioner who achieved global fame for her infamous repair job on a valuable Jesus Christ fresco has died at the age of 94.

Cecilia Giménez, a resident of the town of Borja in northeast Spain, became a global sensation thirteen years ago after she attempted to restore a century-old painting known as Ecce Homo housed within her parish church.

Giménez's handiwork quickly went viral and earned the moniker "Monkey Christ", largely due to the altered depiction of Christ's head bearing a resemblance to a hairy monkey.

Local Announcement and Homage

The nonagenarian's death was announced by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, in a social media post, where he described her as a "passionate lover of painting from a very early age".

"Descansa en paz Cecilia, we will always remember you," the mayor posted.

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

The Painting's History and the Now-Infamous Act

The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) painted by nineteenth-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had been held for more than a century in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza.

At the time, Giménez, who was 81 years old, explained that church members had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had received permission from the local priest to do the work.

She also noted that anyone who came into the church would have observed she was painting over the original artwork.

An Unexpected Economic Lifeline

The aftermath of the restoration led to the creation of the "Ecce Mono" internet phenomenon and transformed the previously sleepy town of Borja quickly become a significant tourist destination.

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

Today, local authorities say that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists travel to Borja each year to view the notorious painting, which is now protected by a protective shield of glass.

Legacy and Local Admiration

Following the initial backlash, with support from local residents and well-wishers around the world, Giménez later hold an art exhibition showcasing twenty-eight of her own paintings.

She was commended by the mayor for her generosity and years of dedication to the parish.

In the end, what began as a sincere but unsuccessful act of restoration forged an unlikely piece of pop culture and brought unprecedented attention and resources to a small Spanish town.