Tourist’s Moment on a Van Gogh Chair Leads to Shocking Swarovski Crystal Disaster in Italian Museum
Tourists Have Been Caught Damaging Art Before
Unfortunately, Palazzo Maffei is not the only museum to have had art pieces damaged or destroyed by visitors.
In October 2022, an American man destroyed two ancient sculptures at the Vatican because he was mad that he couldn’t see the Pope. Exactly a year later, another American tourist was arrested for smashing Roman statues at a museum in Jerusalem. And in June 2022, a man named Brian Hernandez broke into an art museum in Dallas and broke several Greek artifacts because he was “mad at his girl.”
This type of tourist damage isn’t limited to museums, either.
Palazzo MaffeiWhile taking photos, a man slipped and broke the priceless chair.
The Colosseum in Rome has suffered several vandalism incidents in recent years. In 2023, a man carved his name into the 2,000-year-old structure’s stone wall. A similar incident happened in Pompeii in 2024, and the man from Kazakhstan who was responsible was ordered to pay for the restoration.
In April 2024, a parkour group from London damaged a historic building in Matera, Italy, while performing stunts. And just a few weeks ago, in May 2025, a man in China jumped into a pit containing the famous Terracotta Army and pushed two of the warriors to the ground.
The incident at Palazzo Maffei occurred back in April, but the museum just recently released the footage to raise awareness for the need to use respect and caution while looking at art.
Carlon clarified that most visitors to the museum are considerate but that “anyone should enter art places, or museums or churches, wherever art is displayed, in a more respectful way.”
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