Tourist smashes 18th century statue while trying to take a selfie

A MUSEUM visitor was undoubtedly left red-faced after a common blunder caused him to destroy a valuable 18th century artwork.

LISBON, PORTUGAL - AUGUST 03: Decorative magnets are on display at a souvenirs shop near the Miradouro de Santa Luzia, in one of the city's historic neighborhoods on August 03, 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal. The large influx of tourists to this historic areas, many of them staying in hostels and temporary rental apartments, has prompted the authorities of parishes that include historic neighborhoods to launch an appeal for regulations tending to better living conditions of their residents. (Photo by Horacio Villalobos - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

A PRIZED 18th century statue at a museum in Portugal has become the victim of typically 21st century fate.

The statue of St Michael, at Lisbon’s National Museum of Ancient Art, has been smashed into pieces by a tourist who accidentally knocked it off its pedestal while he was trying to take a selfie. The Brazilian tourist reportedly staggered backwards into the statue while angling for the perfect shot, causing the artwork to topple and break into several pieces. Museum visitor Nuno Miguel Rodrigues, who was in the chamber at the time, took a photo of the smashed sculpture and posted it online. “It’s the price to be paid for free entrances on the first Sunday of every month,” Rodrigues wrote, according to the Mail Online. Jose Alberto Seabra Carvalho, a deputy director of the museum, told local media: “I’ve been working in the museum for many years and cannot recall anything similar happening”. Experts say the damage to the artwork is irreversible, the Metro UK reports. In September, the museum’s director reportedly warned authorities unstaffing would lead to “great hazards” at the institution. “There are only 64 people for 84 chambers open to public. I am very sure one day we will see hazards in the museum. It will happen because we’re playing with our heritage,” Antonio Filipe Pimentel said. If it’s any consolation to the clumsy tourist, he’s far from the first to wreck havoc on precious artworks. In May, a tourist was charged with destruction of private property after he smashed a 126-year-old statue while trying to take a holiday selfie outside a Lisbon train station. The 24-year-old man reportedly climbed up next to the famous statue of former Portuguese king Dom Sebastiao on the station’s facade but knocked the freestanding sculpture off its pedestal — causing it to smash into pieces on the ground. Last year, a 12-year-old boy visiting a museum in Taipei, Taiwan, made headlines the world over when he tripped over and punched a hole in a $2 million painting. Footage showed the child trip on his feet and tumble into the 350-year-old painting, Flowers, by Italian master painter Paolo Porpora. The damaged oil-on-canvas artwork required expensive restoration. Also last year, a pair of tourists accidentally shattered a 315-year-old marble statue in the Italian city of Cremona. They were reportedly trying to snap a selfie with the Statue of the Two Hercules — considered a symbol of the city — when they knocked it to the ground. In 2013, an American tourist accidentally snapped the finger off a 600-year-old statue of the Virgin Mary at Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence. The 55-year-old man was reportedly attempting to compare his finger to one on the statue figure when it broke off. In an even more strange incident, the quest for a perfect selfie caused a US exchange student to become trapped in a giant stone sculpture of a vulva in Germany. Some 22 firefighters were called to help free the man when he got stuck trying to take “a funny picture” with the sculpture in the grounds of Tubingen University Institute of Microbiology.