Amateur disfigures fresco of Christ

MADRID -- A small Spanish town is trying to figure out what to do with a 20th-century painting of Christ that has been disfigured by a local artist who was trying to restore it.

Juan Maria Ojeda, an official in Borja, said Celia Gimenez, 80, decided to touch up the fresco of Christ wearing a crown of thorns in the Misericordia church. He said no one realized how badly disfigured the painting was until she called town hall to say what she had done.

Gimenez later defended herself on Spanish TV, saying the priest knew what she was doing.

The fate of the 1930 painting has made news worldwide.

The fresco is of the genre known as "Ecce Homo" style ("Behold the Man"). But yesterday some Twitter users were dubbing it "Ecce Mono" ("Behold the Monkey"). -- AP