Usually museums will have signs that ask you to please not touch the art. Less common are signs asking you to please not eat the art.
Such a notice might be needed for the famed piece “Comedian” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, which features an unpeeled banana duct-taped to an otherwise blank wall. According to CNN, the banana was on display at the Centre-Pompidou Metz in France until a visitor decided it belonged in their stomach.
Upon seeing the banana eating taking place, “The security team acted quickly and calmly, according to internal procedures,” the museum says. The gallery notes that the “artwork was reinstalled a few minutes later,” and that the banana is actually replaced regularly due to its “perishable” nature.
The “Comedian” banana has been eaten at least three times before, including during its debut in 2019 at Art Basel Miami art fair. The piece’s most recent buyer also ate it upon paying just over $6 million at an auction.