Visitors Break Crystal Chair at Italian Museum

This incident involved a couple breaking a crystal-covered chair at an Italian museum in April 2025. The museum, Palazzo Maffei in Verona, Italy, released security camera footage of the incident on June 12, 2025, to raise awareness about respecting artwork.

Security camera footage shows a man and a woman taking pictures of themselves with the chair. It was displayed on a pedestal, with a sign warning visitors not to touch it. The chair collapses under the man’s weight when he attempts to sit on it. The chair’s frame is mostly hollow and held together with foil, making it extremely fragile.

Then the couple flees the scene where the museum officials didn’t discover the damage till after they left.

The chair is a sculpture by artist Nicola Bolla, titled the “Van Gogh chair” as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh’s painting of a simple chair. It’s entirely covered in hundreds of Swarovski crystals.

By replacing the broken parts, repairing patterns, and building a home for the chair, the museum was able to restore the chair. Despite the damage, which included broken legs and a crushed seat, the chair is now back on display! Now protected by plexiglass, even though it looks the same, many say the chair has lost its artistic value due to the damage.

The museum released the security footage to raise awareness about respecting art. They described it as “every museum’s nightmare”. They also hope that the couple will come forward and apologize. Ms. Carlon stated, “It’d be a nice gesture,” and “I’d appreciate an apology.” The museum has contacted the police, but the couple has not been identified yet.