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The Spanish parishioner who made international headlines for her infamous restoration attempt on a cherished religious painting has passed away at the age 94.

Cecilia Giménez, a resident of the town of Borja in northern Spain, rose to prominence thirteen years ago after she undertook to restore a century-old painting titled Ecce Homo housed within her parish church.

Giménez's restoration effort spread across the internet and earned the moniker "Potato Jesus", because the altered depiction of Christ's head looking somewhat like a furry primate.

Official Announcement and Homage

The nonagenarian's death was confirmed by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he described her as a "great lover of painting from a young age".

"Descansa en paz Cecilia, we will always remember you," Arilla wrote.

Arilla further referenced Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in August 2012, which "due to the deteriorated condition it presented, Cecilia, with the best intentions, chose to apply new paint over the original".

The Artwork's Background and the Fateful Intervention

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

In 2012, Giménez, then 81, stated that church members had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had been given the go-ahead from the local priest to proceed.

She added at the time that anyone who entered the church would have observed she was applying paint to the existing artwork.

A Surprising Tourist Boom

The aftermath of the repaint job led to the creation of the "Ecce Mono" meme and transformed the previously sleepy town of Borja rapidly turn into a major tourist destination.

The town, which had in the past welcomed just five thousand tourists per year, attracted over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and generated more than €50,000 for charity from the attention.

Currently, officials estimate that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists travel to Borja every year to see the famous painting, which is now protected by a pane of glass.

Later Life and Local Support

Following the wave of criticism, with support from local residents and others globally, Giménez went on to stage an exhibition of her paintings featuring 28 of her personal works.

She was praised by the mayor for her generosity and decades of dedication to the parish.

Ultimately, what began as a well-intentioned but flawed act of restoration forged an improbable piece of pop culture and provided unprecedented attention and resources to a small Spanish town.