Vatican Museum
The pope refused to receive him
An American tourist broke two statues that were over 2,000 years old after he was turned down for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican's Chiaramonti Museum. The unhappy man took out his anger on an old bust, which then fell to the floor. While he was running away, he also broke another sculpture. The incident happened earlier on Thursday around noon in Rome.
Vatican police arrested the tourist
A statement from the Vatican says that the person who broke the statues was caught by the Vatican police and turned over to the Italian government. The statement went on to say, "Now, experts are figuring out how bad the damage is and gathering the pieces so they can be fixed right away." The Italian newspaper La Repubblica said that one of the busts had lost its nose.
The two broken pieces are minor works
It's not clear what the tourist wanted to talk about with the Pope, but both works of art are currently being taken care of. Il Messaggero, an Italian newspaper, spoke to a museum representative who said that the two broken pieces are "minor works" in the collection. About 1,000 sculptures are in Chiaramonti, and many of them are busts. The most famous is Augustus of Prima Porta, which was made in 20 B.C.E. It is a full-length statue of the first Roman Emperor made of marble.
A meeting will be organized to discuss security measures
The damage was caught on the Vatican's video surveillance system. Staff at the museum will also get training on how to handle these kinds of fights. Also next week, there will be a meeting to talk about security measures as the Catholic Church gets ready for the Jubilee celebrations in 2025.
Selena Mattei