These masterpieces were destroyed

A visitor to an art fair in Miami could not resist touching a statue by the American artist Jeff Koons. The bright blue work fell over and shattered into more than a hundred pieces. The damage: €40,000. But there are more examples in history of masterpieces that suffered the same fate. MASTERS lists a number of painful examples.

1. Mona Lisa | Leonardo da Vinci

A Russian woman decided to visit the Louvre in 2009 and threw an empty tea cup at the Mona Lisa. Fortunately, the glass protected the Mona Lisa from damage. The woman's motivation was that she had been denied French citizenship. Critics believed that the painting should be better protected from such attacks and moved to its own gallery, separate from other works. Ultimately, measures were taken by deploying queues to control the crowds around the painting. The glass was also upgraded in 2019.

2. Image | Antonio Canova 

Things went wrong in the Italian Gipsoteca Museum in 2020 and two toes broke off a statue. An Austrian visitor went while making one Selfie sit on a statue by artist Antonio Canova. It is a plaster model from 1804 depicting Paolina Bonaparte. She is said to have been a sister of Napoleon.

“Canova”:
Perché un tourist austriaco ha danneggiato la “Paolina Borghese”, custodita nel museo di Possagno (Treviso): per farsi un selfie si è seduto sulla statua spezzandole le dita del piede pic.twitter.com/k0r8nXpOz2

- Why is it in trend? (@perchetendenza) August 1, 2020

3. Gazing Ball | Jeff Koons 

In 2018, another work of art by Jeff Koons was destroyed. Are Gazing Ball was seriously damaged on the last day in the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam. The artwork was part of a series in which Koons had old masterpieces copied and installed a glass ball against them. A visitor tried to touch the prominent glass ball attached to the artwork, and it broke... The exact damage is unknown, but will amount to several million.

4. Vase | Jaime Hayon

A man who visited the Groninger Museum in 2014 will not soon forget his visit. The man was taking pictures in the museum when he walked backwards and knocked over the vase. The vase, which was 1 meter high and weighed 80 kilos, shattered on the marble floor. It is not known how much the accident cost. Fortunately, the man's insurance covered the costs. This allowed the artist to create a new copy. Shards bring luck, so to speak...

@groningermuseum ; Shards bring luck, but it is certainly a shame! Enjoyed the Unicef ​​exhibition. pic.twitter.com/de6EXZB79p

— Geertje Waanders (@GeertjeWanders) January 26, 2014

5. The Sower | Van Gogh

Last year, four climate activists threw soup at a Van Gogh in Rome. Work, The Sower, by the Dutch artist hung in the Palazzo Bonapart museum. Fortunately, the painting itself was not damaged because it hung behind glass. After a thorough cleaning, it was again visible to visitors to the museum. Unfortunately, the frame was damaged.