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

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

Giménez's restoration effort quickly went viral and was dubbed "Potato Jesus", because the altered likeness of Christ's head bearing a resemblance to a furry primate.

Local Confirmation and Tribute

The nonagenarian's death was announced by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he acknowledged her as a "passionate lover of painting from a young age".

"Rest in peace Cecilia, your memory will live on with us," Arilla wrote.

Arilla further referenced Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "due to the deteriorated condition it presented, Cecilia, with the best intentions, chose to repaint the work over".

The Artwork's Background and the Fateful Intervention

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

At the time, Giménez, then 81, explained that parishioners had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had received permission from the parish priest to do the work.

She also noted that anybody who came into the Church would have seen she was applying paint to the existing image.

A Surprising Tourist Boom

The impact of the repaint job led to the creation of the "Ecce Mono" meme and saw the previously sleepy town of Borja quickly become a major tourist destination.

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

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

Legacy and Local Support

After recovering from the wave of criticism, with support from the townspeople and others around the world, Giménez went on to stage an art exhibition showcasing 28 of her personal paintings.

She was praised by Borja's mayor for her generosity and decades of dedication to the church.

Ultimately, what began as a well-intentioned but unsuccessful art repair created an unlikely cultural icon and provided unprecedented tourist revenue to a humble Spanish town.