A man and a woman were caught on security camera damaging the "Van Gogh" chair, a work of art created by Nicola Bolla, in the Palazzo Maffei museum in Verona, Italy.
Palazzo MaffeiThe seat and two legs of the “Van Gogh” chair were broken after a museum visitor sat on it for a photo op.
The Palazzo Maffei museum in Verona, Italy, has released security footage of two tourists damaging the “Van Gogh” chair, an art piece by Nicola Bolla, and then fleeing the scene.
The video showed a man and a woman taking photos with the chair before the man, who was pretending to sit on it, slipped and fell, ultimately crushing the work of art. The pair then left the area without alerting staff about the broken chair.
The museum is now calling for visitors to “respect art” in the wake of the incident.
The Incident Involving The ‘Van Gogh’ Chair
Palazzo MaffeiA woman pretended to sit in the chair for a photo moments before the man who was with her damaged the work of art.
Despite the sculpture’s form and name, Bolla’s chair is not meant for sitting. The chair, which was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s 1888 painting Van Gogh’s Chair, is covered with thousands of Swarovski crystals. The museum has not released its estimated value.
The crystals sit on a mostly hollow frame, making the chair very fragile, art historian Carlotta Menegazzo explained to the BBC.
“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,” Menegazzo said.
The video shows the couple pretending to sit in the chair, initially not touching it. Then, the man slips and falls onto the chair, breaking the seat and its two front legs.
The couple fled the museum without alerting any staff about what had happened. Palazzo Maffei director Vanessa Carlon noted, “Of course it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us — that isn’t an accident.”
Public DomainVan Gogh’s Chair, the 1888 painting that inspired the Swarovski crystal-covered chair.
“Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don’t think about the consequences,” Carlon added. “This is a nightmare for any museum.”
Luckily, the chair was salvageable. Restorers were able to fix the damage, and the chair is back on display.
The museum has contacted the police, but the tourists have yet to be identified. It is unclear what, if any, consequences they may face for the damage.
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.”
Carlon cautioned, “Art must be respected and loved because it is very fragile.”
After reading about the damaged “Van Gogh” chair, discover 11 things you didn’t know about Vincent Van Gogh. Then, learn about Catherine the Great’s “pornographic” furniture.
