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The Spanish parishioner who made international headlines for her infamous restoration attempt on a valuable religious painting has died at the age 94.

The woman, from the town of Borja in northeast Spain, rose to prominence 13 years ago after she undertook to restore a century-old fresco known as Ecce Homo located in her local church.

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

Local Confirmation and Homage

The 94-year-old's passing was announced by the town's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, in a social media post, where he acknowledged her as a "great enthusiast of painting from a young age".

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

Arilla further referenced Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "due to the poor state of conservation it was in, Cecilia, with the best intentions, decided to repaint the work over".

The Painting's History and the Now-Infamous Intervention

The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) by nineteenth-century artist Elias Garcia Martinez had been held for over a hundred years in the Santuario de la Misericordia near Zaragoza.

In 2012, Giménez, then 81, stated that parishioners 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 entered the Church would have observed she was applying paint to the existing image.

An Unexpected Economic Lifeline

The aftermath of the repaint job led to the creation of the "Monkey Christ" internet phenomenon and transformed the previously sleepy town of Borja quickly become a major tourist destination.

The municipality, which had previously welcomed just five thousand tourists per year, attracted more than 40,000 tourists by 2013, and generated more than €50,000 for charity from the interest.

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

Legacy and Community Admiration

After recovering from the wave of criticism, with support from local residents and well-wishers around the world, Giménez went on to hold an art exhibition showcasing 28 of her personal works.

She was praised by Borja's mayor for her kind-hearted nature and decades of dedication to the parish.

In the end, what began as a sincere but flawed art repair forged an improbable cultural icon and provided remarkable tourist revenue to a small Spanish town.