Conservation experts call for regulation after latest botched art restoration in Spain

Murillo painted about two dozen versions of the painting with Immaculate Conception of Soult being the most famous one due to its triumphant picture of Mother Mary.
Murillo painted about two dozen versions of the painting with Immaculate Conception of Soult being the most famous one due to its triumphant picture of Mother Mary. Image: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo Wikimedia CC0

Copy of Immaculate Conception was damaged after being “restored” by a furniture restorer. Conservation experts remind that this is not an isolated incident.

A private art collector in whose possession the painting was in was reportedly charged €1200 by the furniture restorer for the job. The face of Virgin Mother was left unrecognised after the restoration despite two attempts to repair the damages. Other two infamous restorations have been the 16th-century polychrome statue of Saint George and the dragon from northern Spain whose restored face resembled Tintin and the unfortunate work on Ecce Homo which was dubbed Monkey Christ.

Conservation experts thus called for stricter regulations for restoration projects to ensure that the restorers are adequately trained for the jobs they take up to prevent such incidents in the future.

Read further on the damaged artefacts on The Guardian.

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