While initial reports suggested that the fresco would be removed if Gim茅nez鈥檚 alterations could not be undone, it remains resolutely in situ鈥攁nd while its artistic merit remains questionable, the painting has proven an economic boon for Borja. According to the BBC, the town received some 5,000 tourists a year before 2012; in 2013, it welcomed 40,000 visitors, and even today, some 15,000 to 20,000 people go out of their way to get a first-hand look at Gim茅nez鈥檚 work. The town has since built an arts center devoted to the painting and its history, and Gim茅nez staged an exhibition of her own paintings in 2013.
I always love this story. I have always been a fan of art, in particular classical. I know people are horrified what happened but I always feel art captures a time a moment a feeling and she did was a really unique moment and result.
I appreciate that it was a work of an artist and that has been lost with the alteration. But there are so many artworks like this. I also actually like her artistic style. I get annoyed at people questioning the merit. Art is in the eye of the beholder and should not be marked as lesser because it a master did not paint it.
Right? Like if someone decided to whitewash the wall this was on no one would have noticed. But now it鈥檚 a work of art recognized on the level of the Mona Lisa.