What would Napoleon, the great French general, do if he knew that a statue of his beautiful sister Paolina would be damaged by a distracted tourist? 

This might sound like a stupid question, however this really happened in the Gipsoteca Museum in Treviso, on the 4th of August 2020. An Austrian tourist, who wanted to take a selfie with the statue of Paolina Bonaparte made by Canova, accidentally destroyed her toes. After that he got up and left as if nothing happened. The Italian police established that he was part of a group of Austrian tourists that planned a visit the museum. They got in contact with the woman who organised the visit and she, in tears, stated that the one who was responsible for the accident was in fact her husband, and that they were willing to pay for the damages caused by their actions. The tourist said that he wanted to pay for the restoration, but he was still reported to the Italian authorities. Even if we will never know Napoleon’s reaction, we know that this tourist will be more careful the next time he wants to take a selfie with a statue!

An incident which was both curious and funny happened in Florence, in the museum “Opera del Duomo”. 

The “victim” was the sculpture “The Annunciation”, which belonged to a group of sculptures by Giovanni d’Ambrogio, an important sculptor from Florence who was active during the late 1300s, early 1400s. An American tourist seems to have bumped into the statue, causing the right pinky finger to fall off. A museum guard claimed that they had seen the man getting close to the statue and try to measure the hand, but by the time he got there the damage was already done. Experts closely analyzed the situation. The tourist came forward and apologized to the authorities, but fortunately for him he wasn't charged with an offence. The museum director Timothy Verdon said “luckily the damage is not too bad, as some parts of the sculpture including the finger weren’t original”. 

Today we would like to play a game with you. Relax, close your eyes and imagine that you’re in a museum. Yes, a museum, you’re walking down a hallway looking at the beautiful painting on your right. You get closer to see a little detail and then you fall into the painting. And unluckily the painting doesn’t have a protective screen, so as you realize what has just happened you see that your left hand is stuck into it. You have just damaged a painting worth millions of dollars. What do you do? 

Obviously we have to consider how irremediable the damage is. A huge mistake can destroy a piece of art, and you would be in big trouble. If the disaster is done on purpose, then you are guilty, damaging pieces of art is a terrible crime against global culture.

Another thing that can influence the amount of money that you have to pay is the artist that painted the piece. If the artist is new in the world of art and their paintings aren’t well-known, you shouldn’t pay a lot of money. The problem is when you damage a painting of a famous artist, and maybe they’re dead so they can’t fix it.

What about the law? Is insurance going to save you? Let’s see. Damaging art pieces is illegal and it is considered an act of vandalism (at least in Europe), but when staff and authorities are completely sure that the damage was accidental it’s not the same thing. Accidents aren’t illegal, so you probably have nothing to worry about, unless whoever organized the exhibition or those who are responsible for the pieces in a museum decides to sue you and demand that you pay. You’re going to need a lawyer, who’s going to make sure that there’s security footage and that the museum isn’t just trying to get some money out of you. If they’re good at their job in most cases you’re going to get away with it, but the possibility of a fine is still there. If the case doesn’t go to court the museum or the exhibition can’t make you pay, and the cost of restoration will be covered by insurance (they have to have it, if they don’t, which is almost impossible, it’s their problem!)

We have to admit that this type of situation may generate ambiguities and contradictions. In fact it’s nearly impossible to judge someone as guilty for their accidents. But we have to consider that some people, even if they don’t punch or damage the painting on purpose, put themselves in situations they shouldn’t be in. Like staying too near a statue or crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed. So it’s impossible to follow and respect a single course of action because it depends on the different situations that may occur. 

So, is it really right to punish these people?