A 16th century picture at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, northern Italy, was damaged on Saturday after a tourist falls on the screen while trying to take a selfie, sources from the gallery reported.
The painting is “Portrait of Ferdinando de Médici, Anton Domenico Gabbiani’s” (1722) grain of Toscana “(1722), usually exposed on Palazzo Pitti, but which was temporarily on display at the Uffizi gallery for a show on the eighteenth century.
This morning, a tourist stumbled while trying to take a picture and ended up leaning on the board, tearing his screen.
However, the damage is “small” and the portrait has already been removed for repairs, according to local press reports.
The director of the Uffizi Gallery, Simone Verde, explained that everything happened when “the tourist, wanting to do a” meme “in front of the painting, passing by Prince Medici, fell back, damaging it.”
Therefore, by denouncing the “growing” problem of visitors who take pictures in front of the works, endangering them, proposed energetic measures to contain this phenomenon that occurred with the 18th century.
“The problem of visitors who come to museums to do memes or selfies for social networks is growing: we will set very accurate limits, preventing behaviors incompatible with the purpose of our institutions and respect for cultural heritage,” said Verde.
