In Spain, A Town, if Not a Religious Painting "Ecce Home," Is Restored

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Doreen Carvajal

The “Ecco Homo” fresco, left, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy. Credit Arnau Bach for The New York Times

SPAIN---After an 83-year-old widow and amateur painter tried her hand at restoring a nearly century-old fresco of Jesus crowned with thorns in her local church here, she faced nothing but scorn and ridicule. But these days, people in this village of medieval palaces and winding lanes in northeast Spain are giving the artist, Cecilia Giménez, and her work a miraculous reassessment. Grief has turned to gratitude for divine intervention — the blessing of free publicity — that has made Borja, a town of just 5,000, a magnet for thousands of curious tourists eager to see her handiwork, resurrecting the local economy. [link]