‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Its loveliness increases.’
Keats said that, and as reassuring as it is, the comfort it provides is not always true. Sometimes, a thing of beauty is turned into a pile of shit, thanks to the bumbling methods of an inexperienced fool.
A botched restoration of a painting called the Immaculate Conception by Baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo has left a private art collector in shock. It looks horrendous.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/5ef2edc318ac814c41045055_352f25b5-3576-4908-bb93-04774ac9d376.jpg)
According to the BBC, the Valencia-based collector paid €1,200, or Rs 1.2 lakh for it to be cleaned by a furniture restorer. After 2 terrible attempts, it was left unrecognisable.
The incident has been an unfortunate reminder of other times restoration jobs were butchered, leading to some seriously miffed art historians.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/5ef2edc318ac814c41045055_075511c5-ef3d-4c5a-ad57-403cc52b9131.jpg)
Spain’s Professional Association of Restorers and Conservators (Acre) has asked for legal protection of artwork from unprofessional restoration, and called the recent incident an act of ‘vandalism’.
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