I feel ambivalent about the horribly botched Ecce Homo restoration. My first reaction was horror. Sure, the fresco isn't that old, and even before its "restoration," it wasn't considered to have much monetary value. But, while I'm not at all religious, it was lovely painting, and I could appreciate that its creator was genuinely talented. Not to mention that it was valued by the people in the community. I admit, though, that my horror soon gave way to a perverse sort of delight. Seeing the original (even in its deteriorated state) alongside the "restored" version sends me into giggle fits, especially when I think of the BBC correspondent's description of the "restored" version as "a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic." The memes that have been produced over the past several days have had me in stitches.
I do feel for the woman who attempted the restoration. From what I've read, she seemed genuinely distraught, and I can imagine her setting to work to restore the fresco, and becoming more and more shocked as she proceeded at how terrible her work was, and hoping that, maybe if she just soldiered on, she could salvage something of her efforts. She definitely MEANT well, and I'm sure she was deeply saddened at the state of decay that the fresco had been subjected to.
Unfortunately, and I feeling silly typing this out, she is not an artist. Well-meaning, sure. Genuinely concerned with the preservation of art and heritage, of course. Most people feel the same way. It's just the case that we don't possess the skills or know-how to fix everything that needs fixing. Which brings me to the epiphany that I had this morning (and another reason why, I think, I'm so fascinated by this story): It makes for a perfect metaphor for the conservative vision of government. Spain, as we well know, adopted a program of austerity which has ravaged their economy and starved their government is revenue and resources. Spain does have a cultural ministry tasked with preserving things like the Ecce Homo, and had they not felt the sting of austerity so badly, it's likely that the Ecce Homo would have been restored properly. Instead, it languished, until a well-meaning but entirely inept octogenarian took it upon herself to attempt to restore.
This exemplifies the modern conservative vision of the role of government. At best, government provides defense, maybe some infrastructure. There are more unhinged libertarian-types who think even this are too great a role for government and should be handled privately (and, if there aren't more of them than there were previously, they've certainly gotten louder). Government certainly doesn't provide social security, or Medicare, or food stamps, or enforce environmental protections, or enforce labor contracts/workplace safety/minimum wage laws. It DEFINITELY doesn't provide funding for the arts or for for the preservation of cultural heritage.
Imagine, then, if states, or even municipalities by themselves (in states where conservatives control the legislature), were responsible for maintaining their infrastructure, trying to care for their elderly and sick, provide clean water, power their homes, without any federal (or state) help or initiatives. People would have to attempt to do these things on their own, and if there weren't the people with the expertise or know-how to provide these things, it would be quite ugly. Sort of like a fresco of "a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic."