Selfie Culture vs. Cultural Heritage: When a Prince Gets Punched by a Tourist

In a world where art survives centuries of war, theft, and neglect… one tourist with a phone nearly ruins it all in under 5 seconds.

There are moments that make you shake your head, sigh, and wonder if museums should start installing airbags or some other method of protecting the art. I don’t plan to make this a rant concerning activists and their distain for artwork but I do want to talk about tourists for a moment.

Recently at the Uffizi Gallery, a 1712 portrait of Ferdinando de’ Medici painted by artist Anton Domenico Gabbiani around 1690 was punctured by a tourist trying to recreate the prince’s pose for a selfie. Yes, you read that correctly, a selfie. I mean, I get it. Maybe they were caught up in the moment and got carried away. But let’s think about this for a minute.

Centuries of preservation. A priceless window into the past. The art of a master painter. And now, a canvas tear because some wanna-be influencer wanted likes for their social media followers.

But this isn’t just a post to blow off some steam and share my thoughts—it’s a reminder.

We’re Not Visitors—We’re Stewards

Every museum-goer becomes part of the timeline. You’re sharing a room with oil pigments that have outlived dynasties. If that doesn’t command reverence, maybe they should issue shock collars at the door. Hell, I’d love the job of pushing buttons and zapping people fro getting too close or acting like a fool with a selfie-stick. Can you image, “hey Bob, watch this…and zap!” Kevin just felt a jolt of mild lightning travel through his body and into his toes, almost causing him to lose his lunch.

But seriously, we must protect the art we are fortunate to still have around. We owe it to future generations to protect it and make it available to them like the generations before us did. I’m not saying this as an artist who wants to leave a legacy with his own art either, I say this out of respect to the artists and conservators who came before us.

The Myth of Access

Art is everywhere now—our phones, prints, Pinterest boards. We forget what real presence feels like. And when we do experience it, we treat it like a backdrop for our own story, not a story in its own right. That’s the danger.

I fear we have grown accustomed to simply replacing everything when we use it and break it. Fearing art is merely a decoration to match the sofa, or something less valuable because it is becoming less important.

My Take, as a Painter

There is something spiritual in that surface. The way light bites into a brushstroke. The silence behind the eyes of a portrait. These are not props. These are relics of soul.

I remember standing an arms-length from the first original Rembrandt I ever seen in a museum. It was moving to me. Same goes for the first Sargent, Vermeer, Van Gough, and yes, even that Picasso. In fact, I still feel it in my soul when I find myself standing at the edge of time staring at the layers of paint on the canvas or panel. It feels like I am transported to a lost world and I can sense the energy of the masters who painted it.

I imagine the artist Anton Domenico Gabbiani—somewhere in painter’s purgatory—watching this unfold with an exhausted sigh, whispering in baroque Italian, “perché, Dio mio, perché.”

What Now?

The Uffizi is cracking down on mobile use. And they should. But the bigger question is: Can we still be moved by art without needing to be in it?

Maybe next time we stand in front of a painting, we leave the camera off and just look.

A quick (sort of) studio update

I’ve been struggling with finishing up with blog posts in time for the Saturday morning deadline due to my normal weekday schedule. Typically I would do any last minute updates/edits to the post between 2am and 4am on the Saturday they are scheduled to post. Generally speaking the rough draft is completed a week early.

I’ve come to realize this puts a rush on Friday nights/early Saturday mornings that doesn’t align well with my creative routine and rhythm and I want to see if posting on a different schedule might help. In fact, I would rather use that studio time for drawing or painting so I can possibly get a jump on the weekend.

I’m open to suggestions but I’m thinking Tuesday morning would be a good day. Leave a comment which day you think is best.

Now, I am aware this post is being published at a weird time and it may hurt the chances of it getting seen, but since I missed the Saturday morning, 7am schedule, I didn’t want to avoid posting until Tuesday this week.

What am enjoying about this late post and total lack of being in a hurry is that I am enjoying an evening in the Garage, watching my cats lounge in the driveway, while I smoke a cigar and enjoy a glass of bourbon. Not in a rush, not in a hurry, not exhausted and ready for bed. Just relaxed and in the moment.

I could say the whole point of this entire post is about slowing down and enjoying the moment. We don’t have to document every single moment with our cell phone cameras, we don’t have to be in a rush, and we certainly need to slow down and enjoy life.

Therefore, if all goes well, the next blog post will be published Tuesday, July 8th. See you then.

No paintings were harmed in the making of this cell phone picture this evening. © Michael Warth