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Tourist damages priceless painting because of selfie

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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tourists / silly things / selfies / valuable paintings / photo / museum / staff / experts / careless actions / headache / memes / social media / rules / respect / heritage / Italy

Discussion

1) What do you think about what you read?

2) Are you a good tourist?

3) What's your favourite painting?

4) What do you think of people who take selfies?

5) What do you think of people putting selfies on social media?

6) What do you think of your country's cultural heritage?

7) Do you think people 'lose their minds' to take photos?

8) What questions would you like to ask the man?