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
Prays to the art gods “please don’t let him be American…”.
Unfortunately they’re the worst offenders together with us Brits. Coincidentally I was in Florence 10 days ago and I could recognise all the accents. You don’t see Japanese or Czech people making a mess everywhere.
This mania of taking selfie (jumping/climbing everywhere to take them!) is rampant and I do wonder if people enjoy what they’re doing rather than just recording it for the online masses.
Hate to sound old and grumpy, but there is a difference between (i) experiencing something and (ii) experiencing it through your phone.
son and I sat at a balcony seat having breakfast at the Louvre and watched a group of young ladies spend an hour taking leaping photos around the glass pyramid and making absolute asses of themselves….then left without ever bothering to go in.
exactly. Americans first then British. Fat, entitled, selfish, pushy and narcissistic.
I figured out the difference between USA patriotism and Canadian patriotism-Americans think they’re better than everyone else and want to be sure you know it, while people from Canada mostly want to be sure you don’t think they’re Americans.
I don’t get the selfie obsession. I have a friend who always sends selfies from his travels and it… ruins the view, usually?
I do admit to taking a picture or two of many paintings (when allowed), especially if it’s so crowded that I can’t stand and look at it like I’d like or if I know I’m going to want to look more closely at a technique or color later. It isn’t perfect, but with kids in tow and sharing the gallery with a million other people, we do what we can.
But I don’t do selfies.
Preach – I live near Abbey Studio in North London and its continues to shock me the amount of people who put their lives in danger just to jump out in front of traffic to get photos of themselves recreating the famous Beatle shot walk across the crossing. That area is VERY busy with traffic.
Make room for me on the grumpy [& no selfie] stoop. All this art is ubiquitous on any browser search to c/p to your personal devices. These shenanigans for the sole purpose of adding someone’s personal image for memes & giggles is ruining the visit for the rest of us. See also; folks who try to use Museum & Garden spaces for covert fashion shoots for their SM dopamine hit/Likes. Several places in my city had to place signage requiring a permit & notating what constitutes banned professional photography on the premises w/out one. Alas, people still try to smuggle in equipment & garment bags instead of applying for one, SMDH.
Huh. Looks like some of y’all don’t know life before phones. Back when we used regular cameras with film, people took photographs while on vacation, including having someone take their picture standing in front of…the pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, a famous work of art, etc.
Beanie, while true that regular cameras did prompt selfies to a certain extent, those devices didn’t have the same functionality that mobile/cell phones do now. There was no instant gratification of uploading the pics or short reels to a SM account. And before digital, film stock had to be taken in for processing & afterward perhaps scrapbooked w/ other travel memorabilia. The current technology has altered societal behaviour in a manner that does not compare w/ the pre-mobile phone days.
😂😂😂
There is always one or two in the bunch who can’t follow rule in the museums. Last year I went on a tour of France and it was in a small town that had a small underground cave area that had some very old art work and it had niches cut out where people had been buried. The tour guide made it very clear that you could not take pictures flash or no flash. Well one in the group was texting on her phone when she decided to hang back and I saw her quick take a picture and then quick went back to texting! I did tell the tour guide that it happened and that she should probably again announce not to do it which she did do. There is always someone who thinks rules don’t apply to them.
Very disrespectful. I remember being on a cave tour with my brother & the guide telling us before going in please no gum chewing (among other things), and there’s my brother, chomping away on his gum. When I got after him for this, he said he didn’t hear the guide. Some people just don’t listen. Your texter, though, obviously heard & didn’t care.
Some visitors are just plain rude. Museum I volunteer at has an iron ring, we are not sure what it was used for but it is hundreds of years old.
And one tourist in the museum decided to use it for a pull-up?!
Plus we specifically have to ask not to touch the (in parts roman) walls nor the animals
Why is there a picture of Camilla on this post? As far as I can tell, Camilla and the BRF don’t have anything to do with this story?
It’s the same museum
Thanks for showing you didn’t read a damn word in the post
🤣🤣🤣
@CB… I actually did read the “damn” post… Twice…before commenting, because I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss something about Camilla’s involvement.
As others commented here, I did not catch the caption on the photo but I used my powers of deductive reasoning to figure out that it was a picture of Camilla because 1) BRF photos get the most play on this site these days and 2) She visited the museum at some point a few years ago.
It says a lot about this blog today that the writers cannot even take mild and kind criticism such as pointing out that this post doesn’t have anything to do with the BRF, without cursing at its readers. I’ve been a reader for 12 years, was turned onto the site by my sister during a time when I was on maternity with my first child and needed something for my brain. I’m sad to be treated this way because you didn’t like the point I was making.
I’ll sit here and be shamed with you — I don’t read the small print under the photos either — I’m guessing they were chosen because the BRF articles get the most traffic.
Same. I read the whole post (always do), but not the caption under the photo
You asked a perfectly valid question…I mean, who even reads the photo captions?? What an odd, abrasive way to interact with such an innocuous (and reasonable!) question. Given that the actual subject matter has nothing to do with the BRF for once, it would have been a wonderful opportunity to showcase…I don’t know…ART in the photo, rather than yet another Camilla grimace. It would be a welcome break quite frankly! Like the OP, I am a longtime (10+ year) reader, and this disproportionate reaction to an objectively mild observation is really jarring.
Kismet, I laughed so hard whilst reading this post. So good, and I love your friend
Haha
“Sneezing on a Monet” is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read lol
Sadly in my book Japanese tourists are some of the worst offenders. My family and I have seen them violently twisting the sink taps at Anne Frank’s house and climbing all over sculpture at Dachau (they were asked to leave).
I am genuinely surprised to read this. I have traveled a lot and can recognize Japanese tourists based on hearing them speak Japanese. I have found them to be the nicest, most respectful of any group.
These guys were teenagers with no adults in sight. Possibly a school tour group. It’s true a few rotten apples give a bad name to everyone. I ran after a Japanese tourist who left his bag on a bench at Lake Moraine. I caught him as he was just getting on to his tour bus and I got profuse thanks in Japanese and much bowing. So now he thinks all Canadians are nice!
Years ago I hosted two S.Korean pilots who had a short layover in Houston. I took them to the Museum of Fine Arts here. The older one was quiet & respectful, but the younger one in his 20s & fairly fluent in English behaved like a US frat bro, actually hugging some of the statues. I kept saying “Please, please don’t”. It was only after his colleague noticed my anguish & spoke to him in Korean that he ceased the antics & kept his distance.
Japanese were the worst in my trips to Paris, Versailles, Florence, & Venice, especially when in small escorted groups. They’re camera-obsessed & will get in front of anyone/everyone to take their pics, including sticking a camera between me & my food at a sidewalk cafe opposite Opera Garnier to snap what I was eating. They also have no respect for “quiet” requests & jabber loudly in museums, churches, and galleries. They don’t know how to queue properly, either & jump lines.
I’m told that in Japan, the people are very courteous but outside home turf, look out??
Screaming about your friend. And I don’t get people. I love art museums. Why take a selfie. Jesus.
I was at MOMA in NY last year, and the TikTok/Insta girlies were the WORST. There were lines of influencers and their photogrophers/videographers waiting to get their content in front of Starry Night and the Monet, so much so that other visitors couldn’t even get close enough to see the entire paintings. The regular old selfie takers were almost quaint by comparison.
makes me want to spend an afternoon photo bombing.
I say name the offenders, charge them with harming a national treasure, and then send them the bill for the restoration .I admit that I don’t feel as strongly about the crystal embellished chair, but if the museum declared it was art then it was. A bedazzler gone wild isn’t in the same category as an old master, but neither should have been damaged by idiots wanting a moment of selfie glory.
There needs to be harsh penalties for violating a museum’s rules, like a mandatory $10,000 fine and one year in prison, to act as a true deterrent. Or, every piece will be placed behind protective glass.
I gasped in horror when I watched the video.
And I’m in favor of attaching Camilla to all such stories — she’s a blight.
I always assume the worst behavior is American…the most entitled obnoxious on earth especially when traveling…yes I am American although I don’t announce it these days…well, I never have on purpose…I’ve never been sure what we had to be so proud of…anything good about America was done by others in previous eras…whatever “greatness” we think we had was not accomplished by the current crop of people in this country, that’s for sure…
I’m glad they are prosecuting…
Because I’ve my work I’ve often been in areas with lots of international visitors. As an American, I can say in my experience there’s nobody quite as loud & pushy & obnoxious as a group of Australians.
As I currently live in tourist-central (Waikiki), what I’m mostly seeing & getting irked by is tourists from everywhere just walking right out into the middle of the street oblivious to traffic signals & the fact that some of us have somewhere to be.
I travel extensively and am not ashamed to be American – I am courteous, respectful and polite — and I have ABSOLUTELY contributed to the greatness of the country I live in. One can be proud without being an ass and assuming others are less.
Respectfully,
the Current Crop
Years ago, my family and I were in Munich visiting family. We went to Schloss Nymphenburg (I probably spelled that wrong) to check out King Ludwig’s old digs. There’s a small building next to the main schloss where you can see Ludwig’s carriages and transport vehicles (beautiful and impressive!). There’s only a low, small rope separating viewers from the carriages, and some absolute tool (British, from the accent) walked over the rope, opened the door to one of the carriages, climbed in, and was sitting in the thing taking selfies — while an alarm blared. The guards swarmed him and pulled him out while he protested weakly, “Easy … easy … no worries …” Ugh.
This is awful. It’s like once people realized they weren’t going to get blaring sirens if they got too close, they’ve decided to push *everything*. And they’re going to destroy things because of that selfishness.
First off, posing in front of something is not a ‘selfie’ when someone else has the camera. 🙄 The DF gets it wrong again. Secondly, yeah, hope it wasn’t an American! Thirdly, as an enthusiastic art lover who is extremely nearsighted–even with contacts in–I, too, have set off alarms at museums by leaning too close to get a better look. I’ve never sneezed on something, though! Note to self to watch out for that!
In reading this one I had assumed maybe it was an older person, but no–that’s a young person in the video. Looks like his heels hung up on something. Gadzooks. Next we’ll know, museums will just have those rope-thingies in doorways so we can only peek in.
Some of the worst behaviour I’ve witnessed while travelling has been by Americans. From bellowing for a hamburger and fries in a fabulous French bistro (they weren’t even on the menu but the chef prepared it for him anyway) where I had the best seafood platter I’ve ever eaten in my life to some guy shouting louder and louder at a shop clerk in Amsterdam who didn’t speak much English (as if yelling at them would make them somehow understand) and lots more. I always wear my maple leaf pin when I travel and it makes a difference on how you’re treated.
Why don’t these overweight goobers use the image and edit functions of their smart phones to make a two shot with priceless and semi priceless art?
Let’s not tell them that most of the shots they love in their movies are faked.
Everything does not need to be documented!
Any kind of photography used to be banned by museums for exactly these reasons. Selfies and all of this kind of nonsense should be banned. It would be impossible to enforce but security, docents and maybe other visitors could feel more justified speaking up. Vapid airheads.
Your friend sounds like a pretty big jerk. These paintings are priceless, and are important to history. Anyone who can’t keep control over themselves to a point where they damage something, is deeply embarrassing and childish. Not to mention, ruining the experience of people trying to enjoy them. 🙄
Honestly, either people are become more idiotic by the minute or some are so morons that they are doing these idiocies on purpose…