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…
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.
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.
First, the restorer has to evaluate and analyze the level of damage done to a painting.
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.
And a new layer is added before the painter carefully repaints damaged areas.
But regardless of the levels of damage, restoration is an incredibly difficult job which requires an awful lot of time, patience, and skill.
Art owners always hope that their paintings will go from looking like this…
To this.
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…
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.
Art restorers are only human, after all, and they have been known to make mistakes in the past.
And it may just rival the “Monkey Jesus.”
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.
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.