"Cartoon head": a scandal broke out in Spain after the restoration of an ancient sculpture

We are already used to the" successes "of modern restorers, both homegrown and professional, so their new" masterpieces " do not particularly impress us. But the work of the masters who restored the statue decorating the facade of an ancient building in the Spanish city of Palencia, in Castile, is a special case. Local residents are filled with righteous anger, and on the Internet, jokers immediately dubbed this work a "cartoon head".

We are talking about a female figure decorating a building built in 1919, located on one of the central streets of the city of Palencia. This architectural monument was erected by order of the Catholic-Agrarian Federation of Spain and was rightfully considered one of the main attractions of the city. Now the building houses a branch of Unicaja Bank, which was the initiator of the reconstruction of the luxurious facade.

The result of the restorers ' work

The choice of restorers was taken seriously, since the complex is included in the list of cultural and historical heritage and it was impossible to entrust its repair to anyone. What happened in the end shocked the Palencians and attracted even more attention of tourists who are greedy for sights.

The sculpture looked so boring before the reconstruction

The head of one of the female figures on the facade of the house can be considered long-suffering. It was restored a few years ago, but very unsuccessfully. At least, that's what everyone who had the good fortune to see her thought. A few months after the restoration, the smiling woman's face crumbled and spoiled the entire appearance of the memorial building. But now... some people think that the destroyed head used to look much more decent.

This is how the result of the work of the "specialists" was described by the local artist Antonio Guzman, whose fine artistic taste was seriously affected by the contemplation of the sculpture. A representative of the creative bohemia compared the sculpture with another world-famous restoration failure — "Fluffy Jesus".

"Fluffy Jesus" from Zaragoza

Ecce Homo fresco by artist Elias Garcia Martinez, located in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church in Zaragoza, also in Spain, suffered in 2012 from an artisanal restoration carried out by a simple cleaner. A kind, simple-minded old woman, who was washing the floors in the temple, decided to "renovate" the image of the Savior and herself finished drawing the head on a work of art that had crumbled from time.

As for the Spanish descendants of Ostap Bender, who took up the delicate work with their mischievous hands, their fate is still unknown. Most likely, the company will have to pay for a high-quality restoration of the figure, since the authorities and residents of Palencia are sure that it cannot remain in this form.

In 2019, there was a similar situation in Moscow, when would-be"restorers" disfigured the sculpture on the facade of the Konstantinov Apartment Building in the center of the capital. The high relief of Artemis in They made an unsuccessful plastic surgery in Cricket Lane.