The worst thing about the damaged Rothko is that it fuels the ban-kids-from-galleries debate | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

A child damaged a 42 m Mark Rothko painting at a museum in Rotterdam last month .

The work, Grey , Orange on Maroon , No 8, sustained small, superficial scratches to the lower part of the painting.

This story has brought out two categories of people that I struggle with: people who don’t get the work of Rothko , and people who dislike kids.

I love Rothko . Standing in front of his paintings always feels like an almost religious experience.

There’s a loveliness to that. Perhaps, rather than charge the parents, the museum in Rotterdam will get its insurance payout and do something similar. Either way, I hope that the child wasn’t made to feel too bad. Perhaps it’ll be a funny story that the parents tell someday, and I bet they watch their child a bit more closely in future.