Taiwanese Boy Trips, Puts Fist Through $1.5 Million 17th-Century Painting

A 12-year-old Taiwanese boy has joined a growing list of people who have committed cultural slip-ups after he accidentally put his hand through a painting valued at $1.5 million.

The unnamed boy was visiting the “Face of Leonardo: Images of a Genius” exhibition in Taipei’s Huashan 1914 Creative Park and, in footage released by the organizers, is seen stumbling before using the artwork – a 350-year-old oil painting by 17th-century Italian still life master Paulo Porpora – to break his fall. The painting was left with a hole the size of a small fist at the bottom. 

Thankfully for the boy, his embarrassment looks likely to be the biggest punishment. Organizers says his family will not be asked to pay for restoration costs, as the artwork was insured.

See the video below: