Posted on 08/25/2012 8:07:27 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
People around the world were shocked Wednesday when images of a ruined 19th century Spanish painting of Christ were revealed. But now the woman who altered the painting is saying a priest in the church that was home to the artwork knew she was attempting to touch up the faded piece.
Cecilia Gimenez, identified only as being "in her 80s," spoke to Televisión Española after the story spread. A reporter asked Gimenez if she had been instructed to paint on the artwork.
The BBC provides an English translation of her answer as, "Of course! It was the priest! The priest knew it, he did!"
When asked if she did the work secretly, Gimenez's translated response is, "Of course not! Everybody who came into the church could see I was painting."
But the New York Times reports that authorities in the region at first suspected vandalism, and said Gimenez had acted on her own. Authorities are considering legal action against Gimenez, the Times reports.
Television Española also spoke with Teresa Garcia, the granddaughter of Elias Garcia Martinez, the artist who painted "Ecce Homo (Behold the Man)" more than a century ago. Garcia seemed to be OK with part of Gimenez's restoration work.
"Until now, she had just painted the tunic, but the problem started when she painted on the head as well," Garcia told the reporter. "She has destroyed this painting."
Officials in the area, near Zaragoza, Spain, have contacted professional art restorers to examine the painting and suggest how it might be repaired.
Reaction to Gimenez's work has been overwhelming. Many who posted responses on TODAY's Facebook page found the final result humorous, some were outraged that Gimenez attempted to alter the work and others begged for sympathy for the would-be artist.
Wrote Geraldine Hamtil Cassidy, "Look, nobody knows what Jesus really looked like. Maybe her rendition is more accurate..."
The BBC Europe correspondent described the painting's current state as resembling "a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic."
Shhh ... that's the pathetic secret about modern "art". Don't tell anybody.
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(Appreciative nods to the incomparable Rick Meyerowitz.)
That began well before post 43, ROE.
As fetching as ever, lol.
LOL!!! Yeah, looks like her work.
A history of art moment. Like that fool Herostrates she found her way into history books.
Must be Spanish. A Hispanic would never do that!
She was just doing the work those bums from Hispania were too lazy to do...
I read them all.
BTW, I have very close connections with those who call themselves “Spaniards”. They do NOT refer to themselves as “hispanic”.
And a family member who works in Argentina uses the word “latino”.
FWIW
Read any standard dictionary definition of the word. Look into the etymology of the word. Hispania is the Iberian Peninsula. Spain. Hispanics are Spanish speakers.
Perhaps, then, cultural usage trumps etymology and geography.
Also, one can go to Spain and hear Castilian, to Argentina and hear Spanish with an Italian lyricism, to Chile and hear something quite different, not only in accent but in common usage. It’s easy to discern Cuban Spanish and Puerto Rican Spanish from those who speak it in the Hiberian Peninsula.. And then....there is Spanish as spoken by a Filipino.
See how far this can go?
Finis.
You engaged me, ROE, so it’s certainly your prerogative to declare your intent to end it, lol.
Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.
Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.
Columbus was Genovesi.
hahahaha oh that was hilarious
Latino is discernible from Anglican settlers in the New World. Hispanic culture tended to arise from those given land grant from the King of Spain.
(Latinos drive green Impalas, while Hispanics ride thoroughbred horses. ;^)
That may be a concensus but it’s far from settled. Cuban Castilians claim him as one of their own. He did represent Isabela of Castile. He has been variously claimed to be Catalonian, Portuguese, French, Norwegian, Sephardic, Spanish Converso and even Polish in addition to Genoese.
Historians agree that Columbus wrote in Portuguese tinged Castilian Spanish, including the letter you cite, and furthermore that he could not write in Italian.
Italian was not the native language of Genoa at the time...so his inability to write in Italian means what? And that is your proof that he was Castilian?
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