‘The Potato Head Of Palencia’

The botched restoration of an old statue in Spain is gaining worldwide attention, and it’s not for the artist’s great attention to detail!

The sculpture, which sits on the exterior of an ornate office building in the city, once featured the realistic visage of a woman smiling, the Associated Press reported. However, now the interestingly “restored” statue has been likened to a “potato” rather than a woman.

The restoration also appears to have added what looks like a sheep’s head next to a goat. In an original photo of the statue, the ‘sheep’s head’ appears to be there, thus falling off over time and the artist decided to add it back in. Which was probably not the greatest of ideas.

The disfigurement was bought to light by a local artist who lives near the office building and was tipped off by a florist on his street. Antonio Capel posted before and after photographs on his Facebook page, triggering an intense flurry of social media reaction.

The botched update was done at least 10-years ago, but it is only not starting to gain attention – it’s beginning to become a tourist attraction.

A Palencia City Hall spokesman who declined to offer a name following internal procedure was unable to say when the work was carried out or by whom but said the restoration would most likely be investigated by regional authorities in a statement to the Associated Press.