Old woman who botched 'Ecce Homo' Spanish fresco sells artwork for hundreds on eBay

Three separate photos show the extent of the damage done by the unnamed woman to Elias Garcia Martinez’s work ‘Ecce Homo’. (Gawker.com)

The 80-year-old Spanish artist who became famous because of her botched restoration of a Christ fresco in a small-town church is auctioning one of her works on eBay for charity.

Celia Gimenez's oil painting Las Bodegas de Borja ("Borja's Wine Cellar"), was had bids of €620 at press time, doubling its starting price after 31 bids. The sale closes Monday.

Gimenez became a sensation in August when pictures spread on the Internet of an Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man", pictured above) mural in a chapel in the town of Borja that she disfigured while trying to restore it. Twitter users redubbed it Ecce Mono ("Behold the Monkey").

The painting has since become a tourist attraction and the image has been used on T-shirts and wine labels.

A note on eBay says the auction's proceeds will go to the Catholic charity organization Caritas.

AP