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

Cecilia Giménez, from the town of Borja in northern Spain, became a global sensation 13 years ago after she undertook to repaint a century-old painting titled Ecce Homo housed within her parish church.

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

Local Announcement and Tribute

The nonagenarian's death was announced by Borja's mayor, Eduardo Arilla, via an online statement, where he acknowledged her as a "passionate enthusiast of painting from a very early age".

"Rest in peace Cecilia, your memory will live on with us," the mayor posted.

Arilla also paid tribute to Giménez's "now-legendary restoration of Ecce Homo" in the summer of 2012, which "because of the deteriorated condition it was in, Cecilia, acting in good faith, chose to apply new paint over the original".

The Painting's Background and the Now-Infamous Act

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

In 2012, Giménez, then 81, stated that parishioners had "always repaired everything here", and that she had received permission from the local priest to proceed.

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

A Surprising Economic Lifeline

The impact of the repaint job spawned the "Monkey Christ" internet phenomenon and transformed the previously sleepy town of Borja quickly become a major tourist destination.

The town, which had in the past welcomed just 5,000 tourists per year, received over 40,000 tourists by 2013, and managed to raise over €50,000 for charity from the attention.

Currently, officials say that between 15,000 and 20,000 tourists travel to Borja each year to view the famous painting, which is now protected by a protective shield of glass.

Legacy and Community Admiration

After recovering from the wave of criticism, with support from the townspeople and others globally, Giménez later stage an art exhibition featuring twenty-eight of her personal works.

She was commended by Borja's mayor for her generosity and decades of dedication to the parish.

In the end, what began as a well-intentioned but unsuccessful act of restoration created an improbable cultural icon and brought remarkable tourist revenue to a small Spanish town.