--- 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=636&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 636 og:image:height: 358 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=636&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Times Someone (Accidentally) Ruined a Valuable Work of Art > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## 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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