(HUFFINGTONPOST) — On Aug. 22, 2012, an elderly Spanish woman took it upon herself to give Jesus Christ a makeover.
Specifically, she attempted to restore ElÃas GarcÃa MartÃnez’s 1930 painted fresco “Ecce Homo,” which hangs in a church in Borja, Spain. The 80-year-old vigilante restorer, named Cecilia Giménez, noticed that J.C. and his crown of thorns had cracked and crumbled into fresco devastation over the years and took it upon herself to touch up the image. No big deal.
Except that touching up frescoes is no simple task. A couple wrong brush strokes and suddenly the Good Shepherd bore a striking resemblance to an electrified spider monkey rocking Bob Ross’ hairdo. And just like that, the art world’s favorite accidental miracle/act of goodhearted vandalism/meme was born. He was dubbed Beast Jesus.
News of the hilarious blunder spread quickly around the internet, and the love for Beast Jesus lured curious tourists to the small Spanish town, eventually resurrecting the floundering local economy. In the first year following the restoration, Borja drew 100,000 visitors and the church accepted 150,000 euros in donations.
