Shocking moment tourist tears hole in ‘priceless’ 18th century painting while posing for selfie

Visiting a museum that's displaying several priceless works of art usually requires you to be mindful of your surroundings, unless you're this bloke.

This tourist ended up accidentally destroying a valuable 18th century painting while trying to get a snap next to it.

The man was enjoying a trip out to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, when things went south, quickly.

As many people do, he tried to get a snap with one of the more intriguing works of art on display.

It was a portrait by Anton Domenico Gabbiani, an oil painting of the aristocrat, Ferdinando de’ Medici, the Grand Prince of Tuscany.

Posing next to the rare painting, the man was seen imitating the pose of the Grand Prince, before he well and truly embarrassed himself.

The tourist thought he was being humorous before the disaster (NewsX)

While taking the selfie, he lost his balance, falling backwards and against the portrait.

He had unintentionally left a hole at the prince's right boot, with museum staff quick to report him to authorities to causing damage to the rare artwork.

The painting had to be taken away to be repaired, as it was luckily found that the damage caused was minor.

It's believed that the visitor tripped on a low platform, built for the purpose of keeping people away from the paintings, at the Europe: Arts of the 18th Century at the Uffizi exhibition.

Shockingly, it's not the only art-related catastrophe to take place at a museum this month, after a man broke a priceless 'Van Gogh' chair which was made entirely of Swarovski crystals, by sitting on it at the Italian Maffei Palace.

The tourist was in shock after damaging the 18th century oil painting (NewsX)

The new director of the gallery, Simone Verde, criticised tourists coming for a quick snap to post on their social media accounts, claiming that they must show 'respect for cultural heritage'.

“A tourist who wanted to create some sort of meme in front of the painting, striking the same pose as the Medici prince, ripped the canvas of the artwork,” he confirmed.

Verde said that they would aim to 'set very precise limits, preventing behaviour that is not compatible with the sense of our institutions'.

He added: "The problem of visitors coming to museums to create memes or take selfies for social media is now rampant."

The incident occurred on 22 June, and was caught on CCTV footage, with the man being identified and reported.

The small gash was not considered to be major damage (NewsX)

He is now facing criminal prosecution, facing the prospect of being forced to pay for the cost of the painting's repairs.

Tourists have been told off routinely in the past for damaging historical pieces presenting Italy's culture and history, as those in the museum world have called for visitors to show more respect.

Vanessa Carlon, the museum director, said: “Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don’t think about the consequences,

“Of course it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us – that isn’t an accident,” she insisted.

Calling the situation a 'nightmare', Carlon added that 'art must be respected and loved' due to its fragility.