Nightmare at the Museum.
A foolish tourist in Italy sat on a chair adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals for a photo op, crushing the precious work of art beneath his weight.
Instead of lowering himself and pretending to sit for the photo — like the woman accompanying him had done — security video shows a man deciding to go for it and sit down. The chair crumbled under his weight, as he lost his balance, trying to hold on to the wall with both hands so he didn’t fall.
The woman came to his rescue, and the pair scurried out of the room.
The Palazzo Maffei in Verona took to social media to shame the tourists, sharing footage of their actions, which they called “superficial” and “disrespectful.”
“They ignored every rule of respect for art and cultural heritage,” the museum raged, noting the tourists waited for security to leave the room for the ill-fated photo op.
The art piece by Italian artist Nicola Bolla was named the “Van Gogh” chair, as it resembles a chair in one of the legendary Dutch painter’s most famous pieces. The museum described it as an extremely delicate piece of work, entirely covered in crystals.
But this story has a happy ending — a few days after the horrific accident, the museum was breathing a sigh of relief. It had been able to restore the art piece to its original splendor.
“For days we didn’t know if it would be possible to restore it. But we did it,” a museum staffer recounted in Italian on Facebook.
“A heartfelt thanks goes to the police, our security department and the restorers, whose precious work allowed the work to be recovered.”
It’s unclear what the recovery cost, and if the offending couple would be held responsible for the damages.
“Idiots! I hope they are reported!” raged Davide Baraldi, in reaction to the museum’s post.
“The embodiment of mediocrity, rudeness and ignorance,” added Federica De Guadalupe in a comment.
