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Have you ever stood in an exhibition hall, gazing up at a 2000-year-old sculpture or a priceless painting, and felt… like you wanted to curl up in bed?

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If so, you might have experienced something called ‘museum fatigue’. This phenomenon can affect even the most enthusiastic culture buff, and refers to a sense of feeling increasingly overwhelmed and exhausted as you mooch around a museum or gallery. 

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The term ‘museum fatigue’ was first coined by Benjamin Ives Gilman in 1916. He focused on how the placement of exhibits led to unnecessary physical strain, causing us to tire ourselves out. But since then, researchers have also come to recognise the mental toll of a museum visit. This stems from a number of factors, including:

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Information overload – where the sheer amount of information in a museum gets a bit much. This includes lengthy gallery labels and descriptions, as well as the exhibits themselves!

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Object competition – when different exhibits in the same space battle it out for our attention. This prevents us from focusing properly on a single piece and erodes our overall engagement with a museum.

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And last but not least, satiation – where we take in a number of similar pieces in a row, causing us to become progressively less interested. (One ancient Greek statue? Fantastic. One hundred? OK, now you’ve lost me.)

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Together, these elements can contribute to an acute case of cultural burnout – and more than 100 years on from Benjamin Gilman, museum fatigue doesn’t look like going away.

So, it’s clear that something has to change; that we need a whole new way of approaching museums, and the amazing things in them. Because if we’re getting tired of Da Vinci and Van Gogh – of the Rosetta Stone and the Venus de Milo – then something has gone seriously, seriously wrong! 

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¡Ay, caramba! In art restoration, good intentions don't always lead to good results.

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1. Anonymous, “Religious Sculptures” (c. 15th century)

A local tobacco shopkeeper took it upon herself to add some flair to the trio of 15th-century wooden sculptures using industrial enamel paint.

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“I’m not a professional painter” Maria Luisa Menendez

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The sculptures had been professionally restored just 15 years before but the parish priest apparently had given his blessing to the amateur.

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2. Unknown, “Saint George” (c. 16th century)

This 500-year-old sculpture of Saint George was turned into a cartoon character after the church hired a local teacher for the job.

Re-restoring it cost $37,000! The church paid for the re-restoration to “somewhat” its original appearance.

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3. ​​Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Copy of “The Immaculate Conception of El Escorial” (c. 17th century)

Spanish amateur restoration’s latest victim...

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In 2020, an art collector paid $1,200 for a furniture restorer to clean up his copy of The Immaculate Conception of El Escorial.

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He Made 2 Attempts. But the restorer only took it from worse to worser.

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4. Elías García Martinez, “Ecce Homo (Monkey Christ)” (c. 1930)

Initially suspected as vandalism, the alterations were instead the creation of an 81-year-old parishioner.

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“They didn’t let me finish” - Cecilia Giménez

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Remarkably, this restoration turned into a notorious attraction, ultimately revitalizing the struggling economy of the small Spanish town. The Sanctuary of Mercy Church in Borja had around 46,000 visits between August and December 2012.

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Spanish paintings:

Some voices in Spain are now calling for tighter rules for art restoration...

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