Centuries-old Spanish Christian statuettes given ‘staggering’ and garish makeover by amateur restorer

A set of priceless wooden sculptures which date back to the 15th and have, for almost 600 years, offered church-goers a deliberately plain depiction of Jesus and his mother, have been given a garish new look.

An amateur restoration of the three statuettes in Spain has seen them painted in bright new colours: Mary has been given pink lipstick and eye shadow, Jesus looks resplendent in a green romper suit, and the figure of St Peter dons a bright red cloak.

The makeover was completed by villager Maria Luisa Menendez, in the hamlet of Ranadoiro in the Asturias region where the statues have been kept in the local chapel. Priest Arturo Garcia admitted he gave her permission.

She said: “I painted them as best I could, using what I thought were the right colours. The neighbours liked them too.”

But officials and art-lovers have expressed outrage at what has been allowed to happen to the historic artefacts.

Genaro Alonso, the region’s principality’s education adviser, told Ede news agency, it was a “vengeance rather than a restoration”.

Luis Suárez Saro, who professionally restored the sculptures just 15 years ago, said he was baffled by what had happened.

“They’ve used the kind of industrial enamel paint they sell for painting anything and absolutely garish and absurd colours,” he told The Guardian. “The result is just staggering. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”

It is not the first time a centuries-old piece of art has been destroyed by attempts at restoration in Spain.

In June a church in the town of Estella was criticised after it employed a crafts teacher to update a 16th century wooden sculpture of St George. The warrior was transformed with a pink face and brightly coloured armour that commentators said bore more than a passing resemblance to Tintin.

Meanwhile a botched 2012 restoration of the famous Ecce Homo fresco has since become an attraction in its own right.

The original work, by Elias Garcia Martinez, had held pride of place in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza for more than 100 years – until an elderly parishioner took her brush to it in an attempt to spruce up the fading work.