Tourist damages a seventeenth -century picture to the Uffizi to take a picture, the director: “Tightened on selfies”

Another absurd episode shakes the world of art and Italian museums: a visitor accidentally has damaged a work of the seventeenth century to Uffizi Gallery of Florencecausing the bewilderment between those present and the immediate reaction of the Management.

The protagonist of the story is a Italian man over forty years oldthat during a visit to the temporary exhibition on the eighteenth century he set up in front of a famous painting for a photo. The attempt, however, ended badly. The tourist, trying to take the right position for the shot, took a step back and has lost his balancestumbling on one of the Spacers spacers places to protect the works.

In an attempt to avoid the fall, he ended up leaning directly on the canvas, causing one visible gash In the “Portrait of Ferdinando de ‘Medici Grand Principe di Toscana”, Made by Anton Domenico Gabbiani. The painting, usually exhibited at Palazzo Pitti, was temporarily located in the Uffizi for the current exhibition.

The images and the controversy on social networks

At first there was talk of a classic case of Selfie ended badlybut the video of the accident, released by Handletells a different story: the man did not have the phone in his hand, and he was simply positioning himself to be photographed by another person, probably a woman by his side.

However, he doesn’t even seem to hold any device. The gesture, although involuntary, had serious consequences: the man was reported to the carabinieriwhile the museum has already started the restoration processwhich is expected to be rapid thanks to the lightness of the damage.

The director’s reaction: “Stop to irresponsible behavior”

The director of the Uffizi, Simone Verde, has condemned the incident with firm words, announcing one next tight on the photographs inside the rooms. Green stressed that more and more visitors go to museums with the sole purpose of creating content for social networksforgetting the respect due to works of art.

This episode is added to a long series of damage caused by superficial attitudes, such as the one that occurred recently in Verona, where two tourists have destroyed a work for a shot. The message is clear: theart is not a photographic setand whoever visits the museums must return to do it with respect.