American tourist smashes two sculptures in the Vatican | Hacker News Reader

American tourist smashes two sculptures in the Vatican

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31 pointsrntn27 comments

Although this is terrible, for those of you who aren't actually going to read the article:

> "The 2 busts have been damaged but not particularly badly. One lost part of a nose and an ear, the head of the other came off the pedestal."

So fortunately the busts were not obliterated into a bunch of pieces like the image I had in my head when I read the word "smashed".

I think “knocked down” or similar verbiage would communicate a more accurate image.

It might underplay the damage though, depending on your context

Well, those busts tend to be of marble and they are not easily broken.

I was afraid they might be little terra-cotta sculptures, and that can really shatter.

The virtual tour (copied from the Boing Boing coverage) shows how much more damage the tourist could have done. Two busts damaged was relatively cheap.

https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collez...

According to other reports, he was an Egyptian living in America. His citizenship status wasn't reported.

Not sure it matters... but it does complicate the usual "Americans behaving badly abroad" narrative.

The list of other nationalities doing mingles things does too.

Citation please?

“Demanded to see the Pope”. Well, that’s a strong sense of self importance. Being able to talk to CEO’s of very large organizations (or heads of state) at the drop of a hat.

Followed with a childish tantrum by throwing one sculpture to the floor. Real nice.

Its actions like this that result in the rest of us only being able to view artifacts like these from afar, behind plexiglass. What a shame.

> Its actions like this that result in the rest of us only being able to view artifacts like these from afar, behind plexiglass.

That will not happen.

You're right. We won't be able to view them at all.

I don't think people commenting here understand that this is not a new problem, and that the precious things they've viewed in museums over the years have in some cases (many of which were never made public) been lovingly repaired after acts of vandalism.

What are repercussions for this act? I.e. what will the tourist be charged with? Simple vandalism seems way too lenient.

Well at the very least he’s going to Hell.

Unlikely - God is able to forgive any sin, and I doubt this would be considered a sin anyway.

I’ve played D&D. At that level, a Bless said backwards is a lot of HP. And yeah, he’s going to Hell.

Without knowing what the physical space looks like I'd rather we just not arrange valuable artwork like sculptures where tourists can easily damage or even touch them. People are dumb, tourists are a even dumber subset of people, you're asking for it if you don't properly secure the artwork.

Throwing these people in prison won't make tourists smarter it'll just put them in prison at the public's expense.

And before someone comes back about how this devalues appreciation of art of whatever, I obviously mean secure the artwork to a reasonable degree. Especially in places known for MASSIVE crowds like the Vatican. God isn't exactly jumping out of his seat to protect them.

It looks like they were lesser works, not worth the trouble (in the way you mean).

It was not a bust of Cesar or something like that.

Virtual tour of the place, according to Boing Boing. It has a vibe of "we have way too many marble statues, just put them somewhere".

https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collez...

"I'd rather we just not arrange valuable artwork like sculptures where tourists can easily damage or even touch them."

Interestingly, to quote the article itself:

"Mountain Butorac, who leads pilgrimages to the Vatican and who often visits the Museo Chiaramonti, said: 'One of the beautiful things is that it allows the visitors to get literally face to face with these ancient sculptures. My fear is that with behavior like this, barriers could be put in place.'"

There is something very "Florida Man" about this story.

The story isn't what this guy did, or where he's from. The story is in why he wanted to see the pope.

Why does the nationality of the tourist matter?

Don't worry, some angry American flagged this already.

It does because there have been instances where some countries are fed up of tourists from specific countries.

This is primarily due to cultural differences and presumptions that absence of law-enforcement(e.g. if there is no security guard at a gate, it is ok to go inside) means it is legal to do something stupid.

Probably had some Vandal heritage in him.

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