Ital food chain to fund €1 million restoration of The Last Supper

Good to hear something positiv.

I agree.

Quote saab:


Quote ossobuco:


What's not so positive is that the Italian food chain is going to finance the gift by running a TV commercial where the painting is shown, and then the announcer says, "If Jesus had out meatballs on that table, he would have died of old age".

Laughs - I hope you're kidding but, nuts, I bet you're right.

Me, I just hope they don't mess up the painting, which I gather has been multiply, uh, restored, and is quite fragile. I am guessing there is nothing or almost nothing of the original visible. Not that I know, read it somewhere.

I walked into a church, I think in Arezzo (don't trust me), where it was quite dark (churches are dark to me, my bum eyes) and there were several people involved in a restoration, with good lighting just around the painting. Very cool to see..

I remember they cleaned the paintings lining the Sistine Chapel some decades ago. Big, big controversy at the time, people were afraid the art would be ruined. They said at the time that the cleaning came out great.

I remember thinking back then that they should have waited. As time goes on, more devices, electronic and otherwise, get invented and used, and I figured if they held off another 50 years, they would have a much better chance of cleaning the paintings with no harm. After all, the paintings were hundreds of years old, what's 50 more years? But they went ahead and apparently lucked out, it came out all right.

I remember. When we were there, parts were fixed, parts yet to be done. I think that was '88, maybe a bit earlier. Crowded and stuffy.. move along, cattle..

I should cross post that in the "What made you smile" thread. It's funny!

Does this ring any bells?

PR at its best.

no, but I'm open to learn

It does to me.

So, tell..

This was just noise to me (computer) but I sort of got it.

Botched restoration of church fresco by amateur - saves Spanish town
Published on March 27, 2016

WikipediaThe Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) in the Sanctuary of Mercy church in Borja, ... 19th-century Spanish fresco by Elias Garcia Martinez in botched restoration"
The original mural


The artist, a professor at the School of Art of Zaragoza, gave the painting to the village where he used to spend his holidays, painting it directly on the wall of the church about 1930.[7][8] He commented that "this is the result of two hours of devotion to the Virgin of Mercy".[9] His descendants still reside in Zaragoza and were aware that the painting had deteriorated seriously; his grand-daughter had made a donation toward its restoration shortly before they discovered Cecilia Giménez's attempt to restore it.[1][10]
Failed restoration attempt and phenomenon

The authorities in Borja said they had suspected vandalism at first, but then determined that the alterations had been made by an elderly parishioner. The woman, Cecilia Giménez, who was in her 80s, said on Spanish national television that she had tried to restore the fresco, because she was upset that parts of it had flaked off due to moisture on the church’s walls. Giménez defended herself, saying she could not understand the uproar because she had worked in broad daylight and had tried to salvage the fresco with the approval of the local clergy. “The priest knew it,” she told Spanish television. “I’ve never tried to do anything hidden.”[10]

News of the disfigured painting spread around the globe in August 2012 on mainstream and social media, which promptly led to the status of an internet phenomenon. BBC Europe correspondent Christian Fraser said that the result resembled a "crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic".[5] The restored version has been jokingly dubbed "Ecce Mono" ('Behold the Monkey,' ecce is Latin, whereas mono is Spanish for 'monkey'; in Latin, it is simius) in an "online rush of global hilarity",[11][12][13] and compared to the plot of the film Bean.[14] Because of the negative attention, the priest of the church, Father Florencio Garces, thought the painting should be covered up.[15]

Tongue-in-cheek critiques have interpreted the piece as a multifaceted comment on both sacred and secular themes. A Forbes commentator suggested that the "inept restoration" represented "one woman’s vision of her savior, uncompromised by schooling." In September 2012 the artistic group Wallpeople presented hundreds of reworked versions of the new image on a wall near the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. An organizer commented that "Cecilia has created a pop icon".

The interest from tourists was such that the church began charging to see the fresco.[19] In the year following the failed restoration, tourist activity generated 40,000 visits and more than €50,000 for a local charity.[20][21] Giménez has sought a share of the royalties. Giménez's lawyer said that she wanted her share of the profits to help muscular dystrophy charities, because her son suffers from the condition.[22][23]

Source

Thanks. My answer would have been from a very vague memory.

Yes to McG
and thanks to Blickers

Thanks, that's interesting (sort of).