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The elderly woman from Spain who achieved global fame for her poorly executed repair job on a cherished religious painting has passed away at the age of 94.

Cecilia Giménez, from the town of Borja in northeast Spain, became a global sensation thirteen years ago after she attempted to repaint a 100-year-old painting known as Ecce Homo housed within her parish church.

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

Local Confirmation and Homage

The nonagenarian's passing was announced by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he acknowledged her as a "passionate lover of painting from a very early 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, acting in good faith, chose to apply new paint over the original".

The Painting's History and the Fateful Act

The Ecce Homo ("This is the Man" in Latin) painted by 19th century painter Elias Garcia Martinez had been held for over a century in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza.

At the time, Giménez, then 81, explained that church members had "traditionally fixed everything here", and that she had received permission from the local priest to do the work.

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

A Surprising Economic Lifeline

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

The town, which had previously seen only 5,000 tourists per year, attracted more than 40,000 tourists by 2013, and managed to raise over €50,000 for charity from the attention.

Today, local authorities estimate that somewhere around 15,000 and 20,000 tourists travel to Borja each year to view the notorious portrait, which is now protected by a protective shield of glass.

Later Life and Local Admiration

Following the wave of criticism, backed by local residents and others globally, Giménez later hold an art exhibition featuring 28 of her own paintings.

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

Ultimately, what began as a well-intentioned but unsuccessful art repair forged an unlikely piece of pop culture and brought remarkable attention and resources to a humble Spanish town.