Man falls into real black hole after mistaking it for realistic-looking painting

WPVI logo
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Man falls down a real hole, mistaken for a realistic-looking painting
Man falls down a real hole, mistaken for a realistic-looking painting. Sharrie Williams reports during Action News at 4:30 p.m. on August 22, 2018.

An Italian man found out the hard way that a very realistic-looking painting of a black hole was, in fact, an actual black hole.

The man tumbled 8 feet down into the art installation at a Portuguese museum.

The piece, called Descent Into Limbo, features a hole, covered on all sides with extremely black paint, to give the illusion that it has no depth at all.

The museum says there are a number of warnings, telling visitors the hole is real and not to step on it, but there are no ropes.

Fortunately, the man who tested the art out is going to be OK.

He's now at home recovering from a back injury.

Copyright © 2024 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.