A tourist is now internet-famous after being caught damaging a piece of artwork recently at a museum in Verona, Italy.
The incident involved the fragile “Van Gogh” chair that is covered in Swarovski crystals and was created by Italian artist Nicola Bolla. It is housed in the museum called Maffei Palace, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.
However, when two tourists were in the room with the chair, they apparently waited until a security guard was nowhere to be seen before setting up for a photo.
A clip from surveillance footage shows the woman appearing to hover over the chair while the man with her took a photo. Moments later, he walked over and took a seat as she snapped pictures. Things turned sour when the man apparently relaxed with his full weight onto the artwork and the chair buckled underneath him.
He grabbed the wall for support and the woman rushed over to help him up. The pair then skipped out of the room, leaving the damaged crystal-covered chair behind them:
Volevano fare una "foto a effetto" ma l'esito è stato disastroso.
— Radio Radio (@RadioRadioWeb) June 12, 2025
Succede a Palazzo Maffei, a Verona, dove una coppia di turisti distrugge la sedia "Van Gogh" di Nicola Bolla: nessuna confusione, da come si avvicinano appaiono consci del fatto che si tratta di un'opera, poi il… pic.twitter.com/BzeuLX8pgB
The museum later addressed the incident on its social media page, stating, “Every museum’s nightmare has come true, even at Palazzo Maffei,” per Finestre sull’ Arte. The website noted the chair was restored and put back on display.
The museum’s statement continued:
Waiting for the guards to leave, some visitors took a ’knockout’ photo. The result? An irresponsible gesture caused serious damage to Nicola Bolla’s ‘Van Gogh’ chair, a delicate work entirely covered with hundreds of Swarovski crystals. For days we did not know whether it would be possible to restore it. But we did it.
We share this episode not only out of duty of record, but to start a real campaign to raise awareness of the value of art and the respect it is due. Our heartfelt thanks go to law enforcement, our security department and the restorers, whose invaluable work enabled the recovery of the work. And a special thanks to all of you who walk through the halls of the museum every day with care, attention and wonder. Because art is not just to be seen. It is to be loved. It is to be protected.
The article noted the tourists escaped after their photo session. It was unclear whether police are looking into the matter.
The breaking of the chair in Italy happened after reports of activists purposefully damaging precious works of art hit the news.
A pair of Just Stop Oil activists were arrested after using hammers to smash the glass protecting the Rokeby Venus painting at the National Gallery in London in November 2023, Breitbart News reported at the time.
In the summer of 2024, a radical climate activist was arrested for plastering an “apocalypse” poster on a painting by Claude Monet inside the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, according to the outlet.
