--- title: Destroyed Artwork: Boy Punches Hole in Painting description: Whoops. canonical: https://time.com/4009616/tourists-museums-break-clumsy-behaving-badly/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-25T15:24:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:12.454Z og:title: 7 Times Someone (Accidentally) Ruined a Valuable Work of Art og:description: Whoops. og:url: https://time.com/4009616/tourists-museums-break-clumsy-behaving-badly/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20507a7153bb6062/698685f413c79f6352191168/screen-shot-2014-03-18-at-10-33-12-am.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Student Takes Selfie And Breaks Italian Statue og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Times Someone (Accidentally) Ruined a Valuable Work of Art twitter:description: Whoops. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20507a7153bb6062/698685f413c79f6352191168/screen-shot-2014-03-18-at-10-33-12-am.png?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Times Someone (Accidentally) Ruined a Valuable Work of Art ## Video: 5 Elements of A Viral Video [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Elements of A Viral Video](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-06-22. 5 Elements of A Viral Video_  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Aug 25, 2015 3:24 PM UTC  Nicola Vaglia - Corriere della Sera  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Aug 25, 2015 3:24 PM UTC Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) [reports](http://time.com/4009403/taiwan-boy-art-stumble-paolo-porpora/) that security camera footage appears to show a young man falling into and punching a hole through a painting said to be worth $1.5 million. _Flowers,_ a 17th century oil painting and one of the few signed works by Italian master Paolo Porpora, was on display at “The Face of Leonardo, Images of a Genius” exhibition at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei, [according to](http://time.com/4009403/taiwan-boy-art-stumble-paolo-porpora/) CNA. Below is a glimpse at other reports of tourists being clumsy at museums: • In May, two tourists [reportedly](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11581657/Tourists-posing-for-selfie-wreck-18th-century-Italian-monument.html) broke off the crown atop “Statue of the Two Hercules,” which sits in Piazza del Comune, a medieval square in Cremona, Italy, when the pair allegedly tried to climb it and take photos. • Also in May, the [Greek Culture Ministry](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/27/world/europe/ap-eu-greece-smashed-vase.html) said a tourist tried to touch a prehistoric, Minoan-era vase at the Museum of Iraklio and knocked it over, suffering a minor leg injury. • Last March, a student [reportedly climbed onto](http://time.com/28679/student-breaks-statue-selfie/) a 19th century statue depicting a “Drunken Satyr” at Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan, Italy, to take a selfie and broke it. • Last July, an American student got stuck inside [Pi Chacan](http://www.delajara.com/EN/werke-skulpturen.php), a stone sculpture of a vagina by Peruvian artist Fernando de la Jara, which sat in front of Tübingen University’s Institute for Microbiology and Virology in Germany. • In 2006, a man was [arrested](http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/apr/05/arts.artsnews) for smashing three 17th century Chinese porcelain vases said to be worth £500,000 (about $789,000) at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. • While trying to see how his hand measured up, a Connecticut surgeon [reportedly](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/08/07/american-tourist-snaps-finger-off-600-year-old-statue-in-florence-museum/) broke off the pinky finger on a 600-year-old statue of the Virgin Mary by 15th century Florentine sculptor Giovanni d’Ambrogi called “Annunciazione” at Florence’s Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (“Museum of the Works of the Cathedral”). _Read next:_ [_8 of the Absolute Worst Times to Take a Selfie_](http://time.com/2981513/8-of-the-worst-times-to-take-a-selfie/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4009616/tourists-museums-break-clumsy-behaving-badly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4009616/tourists-museums-break-clumsy-behaving-badly/"},"headline":"7 Times Someone (Accidentally) Ruined a Valuable Work of Art","datePublished":"2015-08-25T15:24:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:12.454Z","description":"Whoops.","url":"https://time.com/4009616/tourists-museums-break-clumsy-behaving-badly/","keywords":["Newsfeed","society"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20507a7153bb6062/698685f413c79f6352191168/screen-shot-2014-03-18-at-10-33-12-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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