Word.ws English Dictionary

Ecce Mono

Ecce Mono proper noun: a nickname for the ecce homo (depiction of Jesus with a crown of thorns) in the Sanctuary of Mercy church in Borja, Spain, a fresco painted circa 1930 by the Spanish painter Elías García Martínez and attempted to be restored by Cecilia Giménez, an untrained amateur artist, in 2012.

Proper noun

Ecce Mono

  1. (derogatory, humorous) A nickname for the ecce homo (depiction of Jesus with a crown of thorns) in the Sanctuary of Mercy church in Borja, Spain, a fresco painted circa 1930 by the Spanish painter Elías García Martínez and attempted to be restored by Cecilia Giménez, an untrained amateur artist, in 2012.
    • The heartfelt but awful result was described as “a furry alien Neanderthal,” “Ewok Jesus,” and, ultimately, “Ecce Mono” (Behold the Monkey). Martínez’s descendants and the church were distressed, but the story endeared the world to “Ecce Mono.”2013, Sarah Janssen, editor, The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013, New York, N.Y.: World Almanac® Books, Infobase Learning, →ISBN
    • “That’s what people call it. The worst restoration job ever. Un fracaso. The old woman says the priest gave her permission. He denies it. They are bringing in experts to see if it can be saved. The piece is an Ecce Homo. Behold the man. But people now call it Ecce Mono. Behold the monkey.” […]...2016, Lili Wright, Dancing with the Tiger, London: Harvill Secker, →ISBN, pages 207 and 278

Examples of Ecce Mono in a sentence

  • Behold the monkey.” […] “That’s why you took me to the Ecce Mono.2016, Lili Wright, Dancing with the Tiger, London: Harvill Secker, →ISBN, pages 207 and 278:
  • Split-screens of the mural before and after the ‘restoration’ tickled the funny bone of people worldwide, who dubbed it ‘Ecce Mono’ (behold the monkey) and ‘the Beast Christ’.[2017 August, Secret Marvels of the World: 360 Extraordinary Places You Never Knew Existed and How to Find Them, Lonely Planet Global...
  • Jimnénez’s^([sic]) restoration, which, to be fair, looks nothing like Martínez’s original, was immediately mocked around the world with the monikers Monkey Christ or Ecce Mono.[2018, Jeffrey Taylor, Visual Arts Management (Mastering Management in the Creative and Cultural Industries), Abingdon, Oxon; New York...
  • Giménez, an elderly amateur artist, botched the intervention so badly that mockers have dubbed the painting Ecce Mono (“Behold the monkey”).[2019, Bradley Jersak, A More Christlike Way: A More Beautiful Faith, Pasadena, Calif.: Plain Truth Ministries, →ISBN:

Origin of Ecce Mono

By replacing Latin homō (“man”) of ecce homō (“behold the man”) with Spanish mono (“monkey”).

Questions about Ecce Mono

What does Ecce Mono mean?
Ecce Mono means a nickname for the ecce homo (depiction of Jesus with a crown of thorns) in the Sanctuary of Mercy church in Borja, Spain, a fresco painted circa 1930 by the Spanish painter Elías García Martínez and attempted to be restored by Cecilia Giménez, an untrained amateur artist, in 2012.
How do you use Ecce Mono in a sentence?
Behold the monkey.” […] “That’s why you took me to the Ecce Mono.
What part of speech is Ecce Mono?
Ecce Mono is a proper noun.

Words near Ecce Mono in the dictionary

  1. eccDNA
  2. eccDNAs
  3. ecce
  4. ecce homo
  5. ecce homos
  6. Ecce Mono
  7. eccedentesiast
  8. ecceity
  9. eccenteric
  10. eccentric
  11. eccentric abstraction

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Ecce Mono (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Ecce Mono.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ecce_mono. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.