Spanish churchgoers have been left dismayed after a historical Virgin Mary statue which suffered ‘botched’ restoration work has returned from an emergency touch-up looking even more bizarre.
The Macarena, a lifesized 17-century wooden effigy at the basilica of the same name in Seville, is considered a national treasure in the country.
A routine restoration in June saw her take on a distinctly ‘glamorous’ look which sparked a protest of hundreds of outraged worshippers outside the basilica.
Her eyelashes were lengthened to a point resembling false lashes, her skin was repainted paler and less swarthy, and various aspects of her dress and jewellery were changed.
Worshippers told local media her facial expression ‘completely changed’ as a result, leaving her looking like a ‘poor copy’ of the original.
One accused the lead restorer, 85-year-old Francisco Arquillo Torres, of ‘murdering’ the Macarena.
The Brotherhood of the Macarena shared a lengthy statement asking for ‘forgiveness for the moral and devotional damage’ caused by the work.
The church closed and reopened on June 21 after having the restorers shorten the statue’s eyelashes to correct an ‘undesired effect’.
Technicians from the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage (IAPH) were called in to supervise the process.
But the new version immediately drew complaints from both churchgoers and officials on the church’s board who thought it looked even worse.
Jorge Pulgar Salgado, 35, a member of the church brotherhood, told the New York Times his first thought was: ‘Mother, what happened to you?’
One worshipper told Spanish newspaper El Pais: ‘Her facial expression has completely changed. It pains me deeply to say it, but she looks like a poor copy of the original.’
The restorers met again that night but changed her expression even more.
Over the coming weeks anger built up among the congregation and other residents of Seville who saw photos on social media.
At the end of the month the church leaders called a gathering of 1,800 brothers to church and apologised before announcing the statue would be withdrawn for major restorations.
A leading figure from the IAPH suggested the restorers had bungled their work but that the statue had ‘deeper’ problems include a possible insect infestation and a crack across the Virgin’s face.
The latest restoration began last week and could last three months, according to sources who spoke to Spanish newspaper El Pais.
‘Monkey Christ’ and other botched statue restorations
The Macarena’s restoration has been likened to the infamous repainting of a painting of Christ in northern Spain – although arguably not quite as bad.
The fresco was dubbed ‘Monkey Christ’ after 82-year-old restorer Cecilia Giménez left the ‘Ecce Homo’ (Behold the Man) fresco in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy church in Borja with a distinctly simian look.
Although the painting was in dire need of TLC, her brushwork completely stripped the original of human semblance, creating an ape-like face widely mocked around the world.
Last year locals and restorers in another Spanish city were outraged after an 18th-century church underwent a major makeover which left its cherubs looking like creepy homunculi.
Locals said their facial expressions looked unnatural and ‘permanently surprised’, while their lips glowed a lurid red against their now ghost-white skin.
Earlier this year an 1820 statue of the Virgin Mary and Jesusin a village in Poland met a similar fate.
The Blessed Mother was left with unnatural yellowish skin, exaggerated features and almost no chin.
‘It looks more like Bart Simpson than The Mother Mary,’ one user commented on a Facebook post by renovators unveiling the new figure.
Jesus was also repainted with the same yellowish hue while the clothing on his lower half now resembled grey joggers.
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