A tourist destroyed a work of art in a museum in Italy, for a selfie. Ran away but was surprised by surveillance cameras
In the desire to make a spectacular selfie in Plazzo Maffei in Verona, a tourist sat on a chair covered with Swarovski crystals and named after the Dutch painter Van Gogh, who broke under his weight.
A visitor to the Maffei Palace in Verona, Italy, was surprised by the surveillance cameras while severely damaged a work of high art, in an attempt to make a memorable selfie.
The incident, cataloged by the representatives of the museum as “The nightmare of any museum, became reality“, It took place in the halls of an art gallery where a delicate piece was exposed, inlaid with hundreds of Swarovski crystals, writes Gbnews.
In the images recorded by the surveillance cameras, one can see how a man and a woman enter a museum room and approach the work of art, a chair inlaid with Swarovski crystals, symbolically called “van Gogh” and made by the Italian artist Nicola Bolla.
Initially, the woman is carefully positioned for a photo, mimicking that she sits, without touching the chair.
Her partner, however, decides to go on and, in an attempt to make a more spectacular image, is actually sitting on the art piece. At that moment, the fragile object gives up under its weight, deforming visibly, and the two tourists quickly leave the room, without announcing the staff of the museum.
The destroyed chair is part of a collection of contemporary art and is distinguished by its aesthetic complexity: the whole object is covered with Swarovski crystals, giving it a considerable artistic and material value. The local press described the work as “extremely fragile and delicate”, which increased the severity of the visitor's gesture.
Subsequently, the representatives of the museum publicly commented on the situation, explaining that the two tourists would have expected the moment when the supervisory staff was temporarily missing in the room, to take the “effect” photo.
The museum condemned the gesture as “irresponsible” and drew attention to the danger that such behaviors represents for the integrity of artistic collections.
After a few days of uncertainty about the possibility of restoring the work, the institution announced that the restorative team “did a fantastic job”, managing to bring the song to its original form. “The chair shines again,” they said, expressing their gratitude towards specialists and the Italian law enforcement forces.
This is not the first time that tourists destroy or vandalize works of art. For years the authorities but also mere citizens from several Italian cities that shelter true cultural masterpieces have complained that tourists, especially foreign ones, harm their cultural heritage including through the indecent photographs they take with different statues.
In February of this year, on social networks, an incident caused by a Romanian in St. Peter's Basilica from the Vatican, where he climbed to the main altar and broke several old chandeliers, worth 30,000 euros.
