Embed from Getty Images
2017 photo. Not actual tourist or painting, same museum
Last week we discussed the ridiculous, entirely-preventable accident of a piece of fine art — a Swarovski bedazzled chair named “Van Gogh” — being broken in an Italian museum… when patrons sat on it. It was a couple (as yet not publicly identified), who were taking turns snapping selfies of them hovering over the piece, when the man lost his footing and touched butt to seat, at which point the frame collapsed and the couple fled. This happened in April, but the Verona museum, Palazzo Maffei, only commented on the incident recently. The whole episode was such an absurd, profoundly dumb occurrence, that we knew we weren’t gonna hear another story like— Wait, what’s that? A tourist at the Uffizi in Florence just damaged an 18th century portrait of a Medici when he leaned in to take a selfie? You guys, we couldn’t even make it a full fortnight before another Italian museum had to beseech the public to back away from the priceless art! Once again I am compelled to exclaim, che pazzo!
Restrictions will be placed on visitors taking selfies at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence after a tourist damaged an 18th-century portrait while posing for a photograph, the gallery’s director confirmed today.
In a video posted on the Daily Mail website, the man is seen capturing a picture of himself mimicking the pose of Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, in a 1712 portrait by Anton Domenico Gabbiani.
The man stumbles backward, falling against the portrait and leaving a hole near the prince’s right boot. The tourist reportedly tripped on a platform intended to keep visitors at an appropriate distance from the paintings.
Simone Verde, the director of Uffizi Galleries said in a statement: “The problem of visitors coming to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant: we will set very precise limits, preventing behaviour that is not compatible with the sense of our institutions and respect for cultural heritage. The tourist, who was immediately identified, will be prosecuted.”
The painting, which is included in the exhibition Florence and Europe: Arts of the 18th Century at the Uffizi, has since been removed for repair. The exhibition runs until 28 November but, according to an online statement, will remain closed until 2 July.
The incident follows another recent tourist mishap at the Palazzo Maffei in Verona, during which a visitor damaged a crystal-studded work called Van Gogh’s Chair (2006-07) by the artist Nicola Bolla. On CCTV footage a man can be seen sitting on the chair and posing for a photograph before the seat buckles under his weight. The museum says that the incident, which took place in April, was reported to the police.
Mamma mia, what is wrong with people?! And I mean that on two fronts: one, the vacuous absence of etiquette (or plain old good sense), and two, why are people tripping so easily? Do we need to bring Charm School back for both manners and balance? Apologies for the vehemence, but I feel that as a species, we’re on the brink of losing our museum privileges! Also, a valuable tidbit that I remind myself every time I travel: no one cares that much about your vacation selfies. With the exception of your mother, but I don’t think she’d be much pleased to learn her child cracked an Italian painting at a famed Florentine museum.
And now for my full confession: with each of these “tourist runs amok in an Italian museum” stories, my first response was to check in with the whereabouts of my best friend. I love him to death, and he is an art lover! But I’ve also had the experience of visiting the Met with him, where he’d rush by the walls of pieces, proclaiming, “Overrated! Overrated! Overrated!” as he saw fit, and managed to set off the alarm for leaning too close to an exhibit of musical instruments. The worst offense, though, was the time he was detained by security guards for sneezing on a Monet. I wasn’t there to witness it, but received a slew of frantic texts from him reporting live on the scene. Luckily, I can confirm that he was not the culprit in either of these Italian misadventures! Regretfully, I have the sneaking suspicion that someday, he will be.
Agli Uffizi un visitatore perde l’equilibrio mentre si fa un selfie e danneggia un dipinto. La scena immortalata in un video. #ANSA pic.twitter.com/uoWVPuarRJ
— Agenzia ANSA (@Agenzia_Ansa) June 21, 2025
Photos credit: Getty and via Wikipedia/Public Domain