Potato Jesus, a.k.a. Ecce Mono (Behold the Monkey)
Context
Potato Jesus is a botched restoration of a damaged painting known as Ecce Homo (behold the man)(left). The amateur restoration efforts of this painting by an elderly Spanish woman led to a viral series of internet memes making fun of the ridiculous and ruined appearance of the 'restored' piece (right).
Critique
1. Description:
In the ruined version, a heavily botched version of Jesus with a crown of thorns on his head is shown depicted on a painted scroll. The facial features of Jesus are completely marred, bearing almost no resemblance to the original painting. What was once a beard and a head full of hair now resemble the fuzzy fur surrounding the face of a monkey. The strokes that once gave Jesus' robes texture are now simply vertical stripes of a maroon and black zebra crossing.
2. Analysis:
The restoration efforts of the artist are superficial and poorly executed. Comparing the original painting with the ruined one, the only things that match are the general shapes that make up the visualisation of Jesus - basic shapes such as an oval face, a tilted head, two eyes one nose and one mouth. All other details such as texture, orientation of pupils, facial contours and shadows etc. are completely ignored. The restored version bears little likeness to the original piece.
3. Interpretation:
While the artistic and historical value of the original painting may have been completely lost in the restored version, the hilarity of the ruined piece spawned many internet memes, including photoshops of the botched face onto other famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa. Through the destruction of the original meaning, new interpretations were invented by the online community to celebrate and spread the sheer hilarity of just how stupid the restored version of Jesus looked.
4. Judgement:
Although the original meaning and intended interpretation may have been lost in the restoration process, it unintentionally brought worldwide internet recognition to an otherwise obscure and unknown piece of art. Although not the original intention of the restorer, she has successfully brought attention to the painting through her botched restoration of Ecce Homo. The infamy of the restoration has also brought attention and tourism to the home of the painting, the Spanish town of Borja.
