Yowch. A 12-year-old boy in Taiwan tripped at a museum and broke his fall — with a $1.5 million painting.
The Paolo Porpora oil painting is 350 years old, and was on exhibition in Taipei. In CCTV footage, you can see the boy wandering about following a guided tour when he stumbles and falls, punching a hole in the canvas painting.
The damaged work is titled “Flowers” and is 200 cm (78.7 inches) tall.
Focus Taiwan reports that exhibition curator Andrea Rossi asked for the boy’s family not to have to bear the costs of restoring the painting. The organisers will get the insurance company to cover restoration, which will be done in Taiwan before the painting is shipped back to Italy.
The painting was on loan in Taipei as part of the “The Face of Leonardo, Images of a Genius” exhibition, with some 50 paintings by Italian Renaissance artists on display. The accident caused the organisers to temporarily shut admission on Monday morning before reopening in the afternoon.
Source: Mashable
