Who Did This? Yet Another Amateur Art Restorer in Spain Has Absolutely Demolished a Once-Beautiful Artwork

When will the butchery end?

Left, the original sculpture and right, the "restored" version. Courtesy of Facebook.

Spain, the country most famous for producing botched art restorations, has produced, for your viewing pleasure, yet another mauled artwork, this time in the city of Palencia.

What was once a handsomely carved smiling female figure surrounded by livestock has been transformed into a claymation nightmare.

In this case, which was first reported by a local news outlet, the results resemble a failed facelift undertaken on some poor, unwitting snowman. It’s almost as if a child was tasked with the job.

But really, what child could produce such a nightmare?

The female figure’s head, once tilted downward, is now a smooth, egg shape, with cockeyed mismatched eye sockets stuck on. The figure’s nose is a soft mound, and the mouth is formed by two thin, slightly upturned lips, her cheeks and chin nowhere to be found.

Taken together, the figure now resembles Donald Trump, one Twitter user noted, right down to the asymmetrical hair swoop.

On Facebook, Palencia resident Antonio Guzmán Capel noted that, while the restorer was doubtless at fault, the real criminal here was surely whomever commissioned the job and did nothing to rectify the grievous situation.

The Professional Association of Restorers and Conservators, bless its heart, noted on Twitter that “this is NOT a professional restoration.”

Thank you, Professional Association of Restorers and Conservators, for clearing up any confusion, especially when there is so much PR defense to play.

Back in June, when a painting of the Virgin Mary was transformed into an unrecognizable blur, the former president of the restorer’s association told the Guardian that more trained restorers were needed in the field, which was being marred by amateurs.

“Can you imagine just anyone being allowed to operate on other people? Or someone being allowed to sell medicine without a pharmacist’s license?” he added.

Indeed.


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