A copy old of a Murillo sacked by a conservator in Spain

The mockery gave way to anxiety. On 19 June, an art collector private of Valencia had the bad surprise to see one of his paintings, disfigured. He had paid a restorer of furniture € 1200 to clean up a copy of the Immaculate Conception of the artist baroque Bartolome Esteban Murillo.

Unfortunately, the job did not go as expected, and the face of the Virgin Mary has become unrecognizable, in spite of two attempts to restore it in its original state. When the collector asked him for explanations, he replied that he simply tried to "solve" the problem, as reported by Europa Press. Another specialist, this one formed for the restoration, has been committed to rescue and recover the painting.

To the left, the face of the Virgin Mary. To the right, the first and the second attempt to restore it in its original state. Capture Twitter @reviewwalesÀ read also : The restoration of a Christ Spanish turned into a massacre

If the catastrophic result can be a laugh, this is not the first time that this kind of performance arrives. To the church of Borja, a fresco Ecce Homo has been renamed the "Christ monkey" after a "rehabilitation" launched by a faithful a zealous. A statue polychrome of the Sixteenth century of Saint Georges in the face of a dragon in the north of Spain, painted with colors haphazardly, is another example of restoration botched. This trend is not trivial and highlights a big problem of law in Spain.

Photos of the Ecce Homo Elías García Martínez, before his "restoration" and the result. Capture FigaroLive

Asked by Europa Press, María Borja, one of the vice-presidents of the Association of conservators and restorers in spain (Acre), says that these incidents are "much more common than one might think". "We do find that when people report them to the press or on social networks, but there are many situations where the work is undertaken by people who are not trained", she laments.