Spanish Baroque painting botched by amateur restoration

A private art collector in Spain has been left stunned by the botched restoration of a painting by Baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

The Valencia-based collector paid €1,200 ($1,355; £1,087) for it to be cleaned by a furniture restorer, according to Spain’s Europa Press.

But despite two attempts to fix it, the picture of the Immaculate Conception has been left unrecognisable.

There is currently no law in Spain forbidding people from restoring artwork, even if they do so without the necessary skills.

In a statement, the country’s Professional Association of Restorers and Conservators (Acre) condemned the lack of legal protections, and called the recent incident an act of “vandalism”.

“This lack of regulation translates into an absence of protection of our heritage,” said Acre.

“In recent years, conservation-restoration professionals have been forced to emigrate or leave their professions due to a lack of opportunities,” it added, warning that the industry was at “serious risk of disappearing” in Spain.

Source:(BBC)