Somebody Pulled A ‘Not My Job’ On This 1923 Statue During Its Restoration
When it’s starting to feel like nothing could surprise us anymore, someone always pulls it off by doing another one of those awful art restorations. At this point, I refuse to believe that they’re not, in fact, doing all of this on purpose.
Recently, a new botched art restoration appeared on a 20th-century building in the city of Palencia, Spain. The restored statue used to depict a smiling woman, and now, according to some people, it looks more like a person with a “potato head.”
The botched restoration started gaining a lot of attention after a local artist posted some photos capturing it on Facebook
Image credits: Antonio Capel Artista
The botched restoration started gaining a lot of attention after a local painter, Antonio Guzmán Capel, shared a few pictures capturing it on Facebook. In his post, the artist pointed out how this new restoration makes the sculpture look like a cartoon character.
Image credits: Antonio Capel Artista
“I’m sure whoever did it got paid for it,” the artist wrote in his Facebook post. “But the bigger crime was committed by the person who commissioned it and then tried to carry on as though nothing was wrong.”
Some say the statue now looks like a person with a “potato head”
Image credits: Antonio Capel Artista
Botched restorations are nothing new—the internet has already seen plenty of them. You may recall one of the most well-known works that is often referred to as “Monkey Christ.” The restoration was performed back in 2012 in Borja, Spain, but for some reason, it’s still cracking people up.
Probably the most famous botched art restoration is this one, also known as “Monkey Christ”
Image credits: cea +
Another famous attempt to restore an art piece also happened in Spain, and this time, someone tried to “rehabilitate” a 500-year-old sculpture of St. George.
Some thought that the attempt to restore a 500-year-old sculpture of St. George made him look more like Tintin
Image credits: ArtUs Restauración Patrimonio
And let’s not forget about this one from Colombia that happened back in 2018. Apparently, a wooden statue of San Antonio de Padua needed a restoration since the colors were almost faded out. After the attempt to restore it, San Antonio looked as if he was wearing makeup.
After this attempt, San Antonio and baby Jesus looked almost as if they were wearing makeup
Image credits: Juan Duque / Arte y restauración
Another well-known art restoration fail was of the 15th-century wooden statue depicting the Virgin and Child with St Anne. Apparently, the statue had already been restored 15 years earlier, but a local resident obtained permission from the priest to freshen it up a bit. “They’ve used the kind of industrial enamel paint they sell for painting anything and absolutely garish and absurd colors,” a visitor of the shrine told the Guardian. “The result is just staggering. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
“You don’t know whether to laugh or cry”
Image credits: Coisas da Net
Here’s what people on Facebook are saying about the most recent restoration fail
What do you think about the attempt to restore the sculpture decorating a 20th-century building in the city of Palencia? Tell us down in the comments!
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If you draw like 5-yo, there's a career in Spain for you obviously
To be fair, the person who "restored" the Monkey Christ was *not* a professional restorer, and did *not* have authority/permission to make changes to the artwork.
Really? I didn't know that. How did someone get access to the painting, and why??
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Anyone who paints over a carved wooden sculpture (especially that person), needs to be slapped and have their paints taken away. What horrible colours (In this situation)! That used to be wonderful woodgrain.
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The st. george statue was my favorite... looked like katie from horton hears a who.
It's really depressing to see the world of art be a joke to so many people. As an artist, it hurts.
I can't believe they would let untalented people work on Art. To absolutely ruin it. They should be ashamed!
''Job''? That's something you get paid for. The Church in its endless wisdom knows that only faith counts, besides, they're on a tight budget. Everyone of these ''restaurations'' was done by by someone with zero professional credentials.
High up on a «wedding cake«building of that epoch....how many passers by actually look up and take notice? very few,or it would have been spotted ages ago. Like most statues,you register that they are there,but unless they are really something special like Fonte di Trevi etc you don´t really notice. Still,this one is rather funny and not unlike trump at first glance.
If you draw like 5-yo, there's a career in Spain for you obviously
To be fair, the person who "restored" the Monkey Christ was *not* a professional restorer, and did *not* have authority/permission to make changes to the artwork.
Really? I didn't know that. How did someone get access to the painting, and why??
Load More Replies... Anyone who paints over a carved wooden sculpture (especially that person), needs to be slapped and have their paints taken away. What horrible colours (In this situation)! That used to be wonderful woodgrain.
Load More Replies... The st. george statue was my favorite... looked like katie from horton hears a who.
It's really depressing to see the world of art be a joke to so many people. As an artist, it hurts.
I can't believe they would let untalented people work on Art. To absolutely ruin it. They should be ashamed!
''Job''? That's something you get paid for. The Church in its endless wisdom knows that only faith counts, besides, they're on a tight budget. Everyone of these ''restaurations'' was done by by someone with zero professional credentials.
High up on a «wedding cake«building of that epoch....how many passers by actually look up and take notice? very few,or it would have been spotted ages ago. Like most statues,you register that they are there,but unless they are really something special like Fonte di Trevi etc you don´t really notice. Still,this one is rather funny and not unlike trump at first glance.
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