The art world is reeling from a particularly Italian fiasco, a restoration so catastrophic it makes the ‘Ecce Homo’ botch in Borja look like a minor miscalculation. In Florence, a 16th-century fresco by a minor Renaissance master has been transformed into something resembling a kindergarten finger painting. The culprit?
A local restorer who apparently confused ‘conservation’ with ‘creative reinterpretation’. The result: a saint’s face now bears a smirk fit for a used car salesman, and the background has gained a suspiciously vibrant turquoise hue. Market reaction?
Immediate. Gallery valuations for the damaged piece have plummeted, though tourist interest has spiked. The British, ever the pragmatists, have dispatched a team from the Courtauld Institute to assess the damage.
‘We can’t undo the past, but we can mitigate the capital loss,’ remarked a spokesperson. One can only hope their expertise extends to salvaging Italian pride. The currency markets, for now, remain unmoved, but the cultural current account deficit looks set to widen.
