Idiots Taking Selfies Continue to Destroy Artwork

The scourge of fools taking selfies and destroying artwork continues.

According to Reuters, a man “accidentally toppled Dom Sebastiao’s statue,” a 126-year-old piece, “after climbing up to its pedestal outside the ornate Rossio railway station in central Lisbon.” He attempted to flee the scene, but was apprehended by police.

Artnet News’ Sasha Cascone writes:

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. Last May, a pair of tourists damaged a statue of Hercules in the northern Italian city of Cremona while taking a photograph with it. In 2014, an Italian student tried to pose sitting in the lap of a 19th-century cast of an ancient work at Milan’s Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, only to smash the sculpture in the process.

Some museums have taken steps to protect their art by banning selfie sticks, which extend the reach of the photographer, and may increase the likelihood of inadvertently striking a work of art.

[image via shutterstock/wikicommons]

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