by A 300-year-old painting in the Uffizi gallery of Florence was supposedly damaged after a visitor stumbled into a photo with the artwork.
The Uffizi said that the painting, a portrait of the Tuscan Prince Ferdinando de ‘Medici, painted by Anton Domenico Gabbiani in 1712, was damaged after a visitor had fallen back when he tried to “make a mem” in front of him.
Over the weekend, a visitor who leaned back and fell into the painting showed a rift in the screen over the weekend.
The Uffizi informed the BBC that the person was identified by the police and that the court authorities had been reported.
The painting was removed for repair, and the exhibition, which was part of the masterpieces of the 18th century by artists such as Goya, Tiepolo and Canaletto, was closed until July 2, according to which it is expected to be re -established with the painting.
The director of the museum, Simone Verde, said in a explanation: “The problem of visitors who come to museums to make memes or make selfies for social media is widespread.”
He said that the Uffizi had considered to impose restrictions on the behavior of the visitor: “We will set very precise limits and prevent behaviors that are not compatible with the sense of our institutions and respect for the cultural heritage.”
In a similar incident at the beginning of this month, tourists damaged a work of art in the Palazzo Maffei in Verona while trying to pose a photo with him. The artwork of crystal crusted chair by the artist Nicola Bolla- “broken in front of her eyes,” said the museum in an explanation.
“It would be ridiculous – if it hadn’t really happened. A museum’s worst nightmare,” said the director of the museum, Vanessa Carlon, at the time. “Sometimes we lose our brain to take a photo and we don’t think about the consequences.”
