Controversy over visitors who ran away after damaging crystal chair works...Please respect the art
Jun 17, 2025
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The museum released CCTV footage of the incident, appealing "Please respect art."
According to the BBC and other foreign media, a male visitor was damaged while taking a photo at the Palacho Maffei Museum in Verona, Italy, in April, looking like he was sitting on a chair decorated with hundreds of Swarovski crystals.
CCTV footage showed the man accidentally falling on a chair and damaging the work.
The couple was confirmed to have left the scene without saying anything to the staff, and the museum has reported the incident to the police.
So far, the two have not been identified.
The damaged chair is by Italian artist Nicola Bola, a chair decorated with hundreds of hand-cut glass Swarovski crystals.
This work was inspired by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh's simple wooden chair painting, and unlike its simple exterior, it is composed very delicately.
In an interview with local media, Vanessa Carlon, the museum's director, pointed out that "For a photograph, we sometimes lose our head and act, and we don't think of the consequences.' Then "Of course it could be a mistake, but it is not a mistake to leave without saying anything. This is the nightmare that all art galleries fear."
The art historian Kalota Menegazo, who belongs to the museum, said that "the work is mostly hollow, and it is very weak as a structure composed of thin foil", adding that "the work had a notice saying, 'Don't touch it', and it was clear that it was not a normal chair because it was placed on an exhibition stand."
Both legs and seats of the chair were damaged, but the restoration is now complete and the exhibition has resumed, the museum said.
"The majority of the audience is very polite," Karlon said, stressing that the release of the video will not remain a negative episode.
Then "Where art is displayed, you should enter with a little more respect.""Art must be respected and loved, and at the same time it is very fragile. "
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
