An Austrian tourist who visited an art museum in northern Italy last week apologized after damaging a 200-year-old statue. The man -- who was on a trip to celebrate his 50th birthday -- posed with the 19th-century plaster creation. It depicts 25-year-old Pauline Bonaparte, an Italian duchess and imperial French princess, who is portrayed in repose on a couch. Bonaparte's second husband, Camilo Borghese, commissioned the seminude sculpture of Napoleon Bonaparte's sister by the Italian artist Antonio Canova in 1805. Notably, the plaster model has endured worse: During World War I, a shell broke through the museum's roof, according to the Times.

Source: Fox News August 08, 2020 20:48 UTC