The Lady Who Destroyed The Jesus Fresco Now Wants To Get Paid? Sounds Like A Good Time For Memes.

When 85-year-old Cecilia Giménez decided to do an unauthorized “restoration” of a Church’s beloved Jesus fresco by long-dead, actually-talented artist Elías García Martínez, she had no idea she was sparking a meme. Not only that, but the Santuario de Misericordia Church in Borja, Spain, soon found themselves swarmed with visitors wanting to laugh at the Jesus fresco. The Ecce Homo fresco was renamed Ecce Mono by these visitors, an apt nickname which translates as “Behold the Monkey.” Behold the monkey indeed.

These tourists are bringing all of their euros, and now Giménez, who earlier claimed she was having anxiety attacks from all the press coverage, wants a cut. According to the northern Spain newspaper El Correo […] tourists started flocking to the church, but weren’t leaving any donations. So to prevent the disruptive hordes from overtaking the church, the Santi Spiritus Hospital Foundation, which owns the sanctuary, started charging a fee to visitors. [Ars Technica]

Within four days, the church raised about $2,600. Now Cecilia Giménez is threatening to sue because she wants her cut of the $2,600. Her cut. For vandalizing an antique mural worth far, far more than that. Jesus.

The Church has also retained lawyers and plans to keep the money away from the lady who vandalized their church. The lesson to be learned here is that you can do whatever you want and show the exact opposite of remorse and you won’t go to jail for it as long as you’re old. I can’t wait to turn 85. I’m going to tag every bridge and shoplift bags of onions (for my belt) all the time. And if any coppers give me the business, I’ll just yell, “My food stamps pay your salary!”

By the way, several funny photoshops have been made since we did a meme watch on this Jesus fresco, so we’ve placed a gallery of these below.

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[@gayeeky via Mashable]

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[@paddyjohnston via Mashable]

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