A museum has issued a manhunt for two clumsy middle-aged tourists who nearly destroyed a delicate work of art while posing for photos.
The incident took place at Palazzo Maffei in Verona, where CCTV footage captured the pair attempting to sit on a crystal-covered chair created by artist Nicola Bolla. The chair, known as “Van Gogh’s Chair,” is described by the museum as “extremely fragile” and adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals.
In the video, the woman carefully squats near the chair without touching it, but the man is less cautious. He sits on the chair and then stumbles backwards as the seat collapses under his weight. The two then quickly flee the room.
Palazzo Maffei called the incident “every museum’s nightmare” and confirmed that it had filed a police complaint, though it did not specify when. The museum shared the footage on social media, where it quickly went viral.
The damage occurred less than four weeks ago, and the chair has since been repaired.
Artist Nicola Bolla called the tourists’ actions “idiotic” in an interview with Italian magazine Fanpage. Yet, he also found a “positive side” to the event.
“It’s like a kind of performance,” Bolla said. “Ordinary people can do it too, not just artists.”
The museum continues its search for the tourists responsible for the damage, hoping to prevent similar incidents in the future.
