In a completely devastating restoration blunder, a priceless 17th-century Virgin Mary painting has been ruined beyond repair and has been left completely unrecognizable.
Keep scrolling for the full story, and to see the "restored" painting for yourself...
If you think you're having a bad day at work...
via: Getty
You could always be this guy. Someone was given the task of restoring an ancient 17th-century painting and, in the process, they spectacularly ruined the piece beyond repair.Now, restoring ancient paintings will never be a simple task.
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And the amount of pressure the job brings with it is colossal - repairing and rejuvenating a painting that is hundreds - and sometimes thousands - of years old? It's a no from me.And, as you can imagine, restoring these paintings can prove to be an incredibly complicated task.
via: Oliver Brothers
First, the restorer has to evaluate and analyze the level of damage done to a painting.Then, they will decide on what paints and materials to use in order to repair the piece.
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After this, they are set with the mission to bring the painting back to life, all while ensuring it remains identical to its original state.Old varnish layers are carefully removed from the piece...
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And a new layer is added before the painter carefully repaints damaged areas.Some require a little more touching up than others...
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But regardless of the levels of damage, restoration is an incredibly difficult job which requires an awful lot of time, patience, and skill.And the desired result is the same for all pieces.
via: Oliver Brothers
Art owners always hope that their paintings will go from looking like this...To this.
via: Oliver Brothers
As you can see, the painting still resembles its original state but is visibly much brighter and in an overall better condition.Now, most restorations end up with the correct result...
via: Wikimedia Commons
And the owners of the paintings can go away, content with the fact that their piece is restored and potentially even more valuable than before.However, things don't always go so smoothly.
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Art restorers are only human, after all, and they have been known to make mistakes in the past.For example...
Remember the infamous "Monkey Christ" affair? 81-year-old Cecilia Giménez became world famous for her *ahem* "amate… https://t.co/ZBPnRB0Jhs— Mark Rees (@Mark Rees)1592856004.0
The hilarious blunder quickly went viral...
These are the only two genders. Monkey christ and monkey christ 2 https://t.co/tJqE2MXd0K— carts (@carts)1592931999.0
Heck, people even dressed up as the disastrous restoration.
@reviewwales We did “art” as a team Halloween theme at a previous job, and I had a coworker that dressed up as this… https://t.co/pHDHlfLnxc— S. Kyle Davis (@S. Kyle Davis)1592913745.0
But now, there's another restoration blunder in town...
And it may just rival the "Monkey Jesus."A painting by the renowned Spanish artist, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, has gone viral after a furniture restorer was let loose on it.
@TheBayMagazine @reviewwales The real question is why would a furniture restorer think he/she could restore a historic art painting?— Jay (@Jay)1592913243.0
Well, disaster certainly did strike.
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The painting, titled “The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables", was owned by a private art collector in Valencia who reportedly paid $1200 to have it repaired. Above, you can see the original piece.The furniture restorer went to town on the painting...
The original is on the left. The two attempts at "restoring" it are on the right. Ouch. "Experts call for regulati… https://t.co/Zy8zJqf0KJ— Mark Rees (@Mark Rees)1592855656.0
Since the botched painting, experts have been calling for a change in the law.
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Conservation experts in Spain have requested a tightening of laws regarding restoration to prevent people from attempting to restore historic artworks without the skills needed to do so.But of course, the botched Virgin Mary quickly became a meme...
@reviewwales https://t.co/rgWKOJH9gp— Will Cafritz (@Will Cafritz)1592958328.0
Some even compared the new Mary to a Karen.
@reviewwales "I would like to speak to the manager." https://t.co/DAgohmNSD8— truthaddict (@truthaddict)1592916227.0
As for the furniture restorer?
@reviewwales I’m so baffled. I don’t understand how the original after a failed restoration turned out that way. Ca… https://t.co/AfhbNYwUu7— CAZZA (@CAZZA)1592908322.0