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Tourist damages priceless painting because of selfie

Selfies - Level 0

Tourists do silly things for selfies. A tourist in Italy damaged a priceless painting in a famous museum. The man wanted a photo of himself in front of a 300-year-old painting. He nearly fell over. He put his hand through the painting. Museum staff reported him to the police. Experts say the artwork isn't badly damaged.

The tourist made people angry. The museum said selfies are a headache and are "now out of control". The museum has strict rules to stop bad behaviour. It wants people to respect Italy's culture. The director of another Italian museum said: "Sometimes we lose our minds to take a picture, and we don't think."

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Selfies - Level 1

Tourists do silly things for a selfie. A tourist in Italy damaged a valuable painting. The man was in the famous Uffizi Gallery. This is full of priceless paintings. The man wanted a photo of himself in front of a 300-year-old portrait by an Italian painter. He lost his balance and fell backwards. He put his hand through the painting. Museum staff reported him to the police. Experts are now repairing the painting. They say it isn't badly damaged.

The tourist made people angry. The Uffizi Gallery told a newspaper that selfies are a headache. It said people taking selfies to put on social media "is now out of control". The museum has strict rules to stop behaviour that does not respect Italy's culture. The director of another Italian museum said a similar thing happened in her gallery. She said: "Sometimes we lose our minds to take a picture, and we don't think about [what can happen later]."

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Selfies - Level 2

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Tourists do silly things to get a selfie. One tourist in Italy damaged a valuable painting. The man was visiting the famous Uffizi Gallery in Florence. This is full of priceless paintings. The man wanted a photo of himself in front of a portrait by an Italian painter who died in 1726. The man lost his balance and fell backwards. He tried to stop himself from falling, but he put his hand through the painting. Museum staff reported him to the police for causing damage to the painting. Experts are now repairing the painting. They say that there was not a lot of damage.

The tourist's careless action made people angry. The director of the Uffizi Gallery told a UK newspaper that selfies are now a headache. He said: "The problem of visitors coming to museums to…take selfies for social media is now out of control." He said the museum has strict rules to stop behaviour that does not respect Italy's culture and heritage. The director of Italy's Palazzo Maffei Museum commented on a similar incident that happened in her gallery. She said: "Sometimes we lose our minds to take a picture, and we don't think about the consequences."

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Selfies - Level 3

Tourists can do silly things when they want a selfie. One tourist in Italy damaged a valuable painting after he asked his girlfriend to take a photo of him. The man was visiting the world-famous Uffizi Gallery in Florence, which is full of priceless paintings. He wanted a photo of himself in front of a portrait by the Italian painter Anton Domenico Gabbiani, who died in 1726. The man lost his balance and fell backwards. When he tried to stop himself from falling, he put his hand through the bottom of the painting. Museum staff reported him to the police for causing damage to the priceless artwork. Experts are now repairing the painting. They say that luckily, there was not a lot of damage.

The tourist's careless action has angered many people in Italy. Simone Verde, the director of the Uffizi Gallery, told the UK's "Telegraph" newspaper that selfies are becoming a headache. He said: "The problem of visitors coming to museums to create memes or take selfies for social media is now out of control. We put in place very precise rules to try to stop behaviour that is not compatible with respect for our cultural heritage." Vanessa Carlon, director of Italy's Palazzo Maffei Museum, commented on a similar incident that happened in her gallery. She said: "Sometimes we lose our minds to take a picture, and we don't think about the consequences."

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