From USA Today: A couple destroyed a chair coated in crystals, known as the “Van Gogh” chair, at an Italian museum before video shows them fleeing the scene.
Footage captured by the museum, Palazzo Maffei, located in Verona, Italy, shows two tourists waiting to leave the area and then one of the two sits in the chair, which was covered in hundreds of Swarovski crystals, according to a press release published by the museum in Italian.
One person attempts to sit on the chair for a photo opp while the other holds the camera. As the tourist leans against the crystal-covered chair, suddenly the legs give out and piece collapses. The couple is then shown walking away.
The museum dubbed the incident a “nightmare” in the press release.
The release said (translated by Google from Italian):
“It would be ridiculous if it hadn’t actually happened. The nightmare of every Museum.”
These are the words that began the story on social media of the director of Palazzo Maffei in Verona, who revealed an event that happened in the past weeks at the Museum.
Two tourists visiting, waiting for the security personnel to leave the room, with irresponsible behavior tried to take a “spectacular” photo, seriously damaging the delicate work of the artist Nicola Bolla (Saluzzo 1963), the “Van Gogh” chair made of hundreds of Swarovski crystals, which broke before their eyes.
The decision of the Museum to share the images of the event is not a simple piece of information or condemnation, but the will of Palazzo Maffei to make this serious event an opportunity for reflection for everyone, promoting an action of sensitization and awareness of the fragility of art and the need to take care of it. Art must be loved and enjoyed, but always respected!
A message and an invitation from the director Vanessa Carlon, who thanks the many people who, every day, cross the threshold of Palazzo Maffei with passion and respect.
WATCH WHAT HAPPENED:
Tourist caught-on-camera smashing Nicola Bolla’s ‘Van Gogh’ chair, a very delicate work, entirely covered in hundreds of Swarovski crystals pic.twitter.com/S7N9VzvDfF
— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) June 16, 2025
READ MORE AT USA TODAY.
