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

The woman, from the town of Borja in northern Spain, became a global sensation thirteen years ago after she undertook to repaint a 100-year-old fresco known as Ecce Homo housed within her local church.

Giménez's handiwork spread across the internet and was dubbed "Monkey Christ", largely due to the resulting likeness of Christ's head looking somewhat like a furry primate.

Official Announcement and Homage

The 94-year-old's death was announced by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he acknowledged her as a "great lover of painting from a young age".

"Descansa en paz Cecilia, your memory will live on with us," Arilla wrote.

Arilla also paid tribute to Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in August 2012, which "due to the poor state of conservation it was in, Cecilia, acting in good faith, decided to repaint the work over".

The Artwork's Background and the Now-Infamous Intervention

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

In 2012, Giménez, who was 81 years old, stated that church members had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had been given the go-ahead from the local priest to do the work.

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

An Unexpected Tourist Boom

The aftermath of the restoration led to the creation of the "Monkey Christ" internet phenomenon and transformed the previously sleepy town of Borja rapidly turn into a significant visitor attraction.

The town, which had previously seen only five thousand tourists per year, attracted over 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 visit Borja each year to view the notorious portrait, which is now protected by a pane of glass.

Legacy and Community Support

Following the initial backlash, backed by the townspeople and others globally, Giménez later stage an art exhibition showcasing 28 of her personal works.

She was commended by the mayor for her kind-hearted nature and years of dedication to the parish.

In the end, what began as a sincere but unsuccessful art repair forged an unlikely cultural icon and brought remarkable attention and resources to a humble Spanish town.