Tourists break crystal-covered chair at Italian museum: “Every museum’s nightmare has come true”

An Italian museum is calling for visitors to respect the art on display after a tourist couple broke a crystal-covered chair before fleeing.

The Palazzo Maffei in Verona, Italy, released security video footage this week that shows a man and a woman taking pictures of each other while pretending to sit on Nicola Bolla’s so-called “Van Gogh” chair. The art furniture is covered in hundreds of Swarovski crystals made from polished, machine-cut glass and is named in honor of Vincent van Gogh.

At one point, the man appears to slip and fall onto the chair, crushing it. Museum officials said the couple fled before staff members noticed what happened.

“Every museum’s nightmare has come true,” the museum said in a social media post sharing the footage.

Museum officials said local police have been contacted about the couple, who have not been identified, CBS News partner BBC reported.

“Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don’t think about the consequences,” museum director Vanessa Carlon told the BBC. “Of course it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us — that isn’t an accident.”

Two of the chair’s legs were broken but the museum was able to restore them. The chair is back on display.

Carlotta Menegazzo, an art historian based at the Palazzo Maffei, told the BBC that while the chair looks sturdy, the frame is mostly hollow.

“On the chair was a note warning people not to touch, and of course it is placed on a pedestal, so it’s quite clear it’s not a real chair,” she said.

According to the BBC, the incident took place in April, and the museum only released the security camera footage this week to raise awareness.

“We are sharing this episode not only for the record, but to start a real awareness campaign on the value of art and the respect it deserves,” the museum said in a social media post.

The Palazzo Maffei opened in 2020 and has 650 pieces on display.