SALON

Sunday, Sep 23, 2012 12:30 PM UTC

Octogenarian restorer: I want royalties!

Cecilia Gimenez, who became famous for "restoring" a fresco in a Spanish church, is looking to cash in

By

Topics: Restoration, Beast Jesus, tourism, Jesus, Hyperallergic, Spain, Octogenarian Restorer,

Octogenarian restorer: I want royalties!
This article originally appeared on Hyperallergic

Hyperallergic In what can only be described as the most unbelievable turn of events around the Beast Jesus debacle, Techdirt says the woman at the center of the global sensation is claiming copyright and wants a cut of the tourist money bonanza that has hit the small Spanish church.

Yes, octogenarian Cecilia Gimenez, who destroyed transformed García Martínez’s 19th-century fresco of Jesus into the now infamous Beast Jesus, isn’t pleased that she’s been left out of the spoils of her work. Spanish newspaper El Correo explains that since last Saturday the church has started charging visitors to the site and Gimenez wants some of the €2,000 they’ve raised in four days.

The site, which has become a tourist destination, is attracting travelers from around the world and people can’t seem to get enough of it. The newspaper mentions one bargain airline, Ryanair, is offering flights for €12 from the cities it serves to visit the site in Zaragoza, Spain, which is the closest major airport to the church.

No word yet if Gimenez, who wants to cash in on her “devotion,” is going to try to claim copyright of the meme too.

More Hrag Vartanian.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 6 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
189 points190 points | 88 comments
vote
Are millennials delusional? New research suggests that members of "Generation Me" are warped by a profound sense of entitlement
35 points36 points | 33 comments
vote
"Contrary to the myth of the happy, apple-cheeked great-great-grandmother, cooking has rarely been seen as a source of fulfillment, historically speaking." DIY domesticity, femivores, and refutations on the impacts of feminism on fast-food culture.
38 points39 points | 25 comments
vote
6 insidious ways you’re getting ripped off … And how to fight back
29 points30 points | 4 comments
vote
Peace Corps Volunteer’s Hellish Abortion Story - When Christine Carcano was raped in Peru, she felt the Peace Corps had her back.
23 points24 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations