While initial reports suggested that the fresco would be removed if Giménez’s alterations could not be undone, it remains resolutely in situ—and while its artistic merit remains questionable, the painting has proven an economic boon for Borja. According to the BBC, the town received some 5,000 tourists a year before 2012; in 2013, it welcomed 40,000 visitors, and even today, some 15,000 to 20,000 people go out of their way to get a first-hand look at Giménez’s work. The town has since built an arts center devoted to the painting and its history, and Giménez staged an exhibition of her own paintings in 2013.
Right? Like if someone decided to whitewash the wall this was on no one would have noticed. But now it’s a work of art recognized on the level of the Mona Lisa.