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The Spanish parishioner who achieved global fame for her poorly executed repair job on a valuable religious painting has passed away at the age of 94.

The woman, a resident of the town of Borja in northeast Spain, rose to prominence thirteen years ago after she attempted to restore a 100-year-old painting titled Ecce Homo located in her local church.

Giménez's restoration effort spread across the internet and was dubbed "Monkey Christ", because the altered likeness of Christ's head looking somewhat like a hairy monkey.

Official Announcement and Tribute

The 94-year-old'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 young age".

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

Arilla also paid tribute to Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "because of the deteriorated condition it was in, Cecilia, with the best intentions, decided to repaint the work over".

The Painting's History and the Fateful Intervention

The Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man" in Latin) painted by nineteenth-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had resided for more than a century in the Santuario de la Misericordia close to Zaragoza.

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

She also noted that anybody who entered the church would have observed she was applying paint to the original image.

A Surprising Tourist Boom

The impact of the restoration spawned the "Ecce Mono" meme and transformed the once quiet town of Borja rapidly turn into a significant visitor attraction.

The town, which had previously welcomed just 5,000 visitors per year, received more than 40,000 tourists by 2013, and generated more than €50,000 for charity from the interest.

Currently, local authorities say that between 15,000 and 20,000 tourists visit Borja every year to see the notorious painting, which is now displayed behind a protective shield of glass.

Legacy and Community Admiration

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

She was commended by the mayor for her generosity and years of faithful service to the church.

In the end, what began as a well-intentioned but flawed act of restoration forged an unlikely cultural icon and brought remarkable tourist revenue to a humble Spanish town.