A historic chair that survived the over-sized ego of former French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, various wars and over 200 years of history, was no match for the girth of a museum security guard.
The red leather and wood director’s chair-style piece split straight down the middle of the seat after a security guard at the Musée des Beaux-Arts sat on it last week, FranceTV reported.
The museum called in an emergency visit from an expert restorer in Grenoble to repair the piece. Watch the FranceTV video showing the damage and restoration here.
The museum’s curator Philippe Costamagna said the chair is in much better shape now.
“The end result is that the chair has now been very well restored, which it previously had been but not as well done," said Costamagna according to FranceTV.
The guard, however, will still face disciplinary actions.
The chair is part of an exhibit of gear used by Napoleon during his numerous military campaigns at the Palais Fesch Museum of Fine Arts in Napoleon’s birthplace, Ajaccio, on the island of Corsica .
Napoleon was effectively camping while he fought a series of wars that led to France’s domination over continental Europe – but he did it in style. The exhibit features the fancy canopied bed, tent, tables and chairs used by the emperor who ruled France from 1804-1814.
The exhibit is set to start this Thursday and run until May.
HULTON ARCHIVE VIA GETTY IMAGES
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