- What do you mean I can’t go meet one of the most important people in the world on a whim?
There’s a worldwide stereotype of the obnoxious and entitled American tourist. And while the stereotype isn’t true in nine out of ten cases, some people seem hellbent on making sure it doesn’t go anywhere.
Take, for example, a recent case from Italy. A 50-year-old American man smashed two ancient Roman busts in a fit of anger.
It’s no wonder he grew irritated, though. After all, the completely out-of-line museum staff refused his demand to go meet the Pope face to face.
That’s a perfectly reasonable request from a random tourist.
The Nails, They Do Nothing
The incident happened on October 5 at the Museo Chiaramonti. Founded by Pope Pius VII in the early 19th century, the museum displays about 1,000 ancient statues. In its own words, it also has “one of the finest collections of Roman portraits.”
The reportedly 65-year-old American man of Egyptian origin was touring the museum just like any tourist. But then he approached the museum staff with a bizarre request.
He told the staff that he wanted to go and meet Pope Francis. Because naturally, any Italian person in the Vatican has direct access to the Pope.
We want to believe the museum staff replied with something along the lines of, “Sir, this is a museum.” But the man wasn’t about to take “no” for an answer.
With his request denied, the tourist quickly grew furious. So, he did the only reasonable thing in this situation — he grabbed a 2,000-year-old Roman bust sitting on a pedestal next to him and hurled it to the floor.
“The busts were affixed to shelves with a nail but if you pull them down with force they will come off,” Matteo Alessandrini, press office director of Vatican Museums, told CNN.
‘Psychologically Distressed’
The sound of the cracking statue caused a shocked silence to fall throughout the museum. It also seemed to snap the offending tourist out of his rage.
Realizing that he’d — to use the scientific term — f***ed up, the man decided to run for it. But as he took off he collided with another pedestal, knocking over the second bust.
He couldn’t get far, though. Once the second statue shattered, the museum guards sprang on the man.
“The guards came immediately and stopped him and consigned him to the Vatican police who brought him in for questioning. Around 5:30 p.m., he was handed over to the Italian authorities,” Alessandrini said.
Authorities aren’t at the moment certain why the man demanded to see the Pope or reacted so violently once his unreasonable request was denied. A spokesman of the Italian police said the man seemed “psychologically distressed” but didn’t give further details, reported the Washington Post.
The cops did say that they’ve charged the man with aggravated property damage. He has since been released from custody.
Not As Bad As It Could’ve Been
Although the man certainly damaged the ancient works of art, the damage doesn’t seem irreparable. The busts also weren’t among the museum’s most valuable items, and were relatively “minor works,” according to Alessandrini.
“The two 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,” he described.
“The scare was bigger than the actual damage.”
The sculptures have already gone to Museo Chiaramonti’s restoration laboratory and technicians are hard at work putting them back together. Nonetheless, Alessandrini estimates that the repairs will take approximately 300 hours.
Misbehaving Tourists
So, the busts escaped extensive harm. But the enraged tourist may have done more damage to other people’s ability to see Museo Chiaramonti’s collection in the future.
So far, one of the most valuable things about the museum has been visitors’ ability to see the artwork up close. After all, that’s how they’re meant to be viewed — the ancient sculptors probably didn’t intend to have their work locked behind bars.
But that’s just what the museum might end up doing.
“One of the beautiful things is that [Museo Chiaramonti] 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,” said Mountain Butorac, who leads pilgrimages and tourist tours in the Vatican.
A similar thing happened with Michelangelo’s famous Pieta sculpture, depicting Virgin Mary holding the dead Jesus. After a hammer attack in 1972, the sculpture has been behind bulletproof glass, making it impossible to see from the angle its legendary creator wanted.
This isn’t the first time this summer that tourists have gotten off the leash in Rome, either. In July, a Canadian tourist was busted carving her name into the ancient stones of the Colosseum.
But the worst offenses happened at the Spanish Steps stairways. First, two Americans damaged them by throwing scooters down the stairs — and then a Saudi visitor drove his car down the monument.
Seriously, how hard is it to look and not touch?
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