News Digest

Art attack! Boy trips and puts hand through 350-year-old $1m painting

A boy has ruined a £1m painting after tripping at a museum and putting his hand through the 350-year-old work of art. CCTV footage captures the moment the Taiwanese 12-year-old smashed a fist-shaped hole in the canvas, while holding a fizzy drink. After breaking his fall, the boy, wearing a blue Puma T-shirt and holding a drink, freezes and looks sheepishly around the room. He is then approached by an adult, before walking slowly out of the view.

All 55 paintings in the venue are authentic pieces and they are very rare and precious.

A post on the exhibition’s Facebook page

The footage has been released by organisers of the Face of Leonardo: Images of a Genius exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan. The ruined picture is one by Paolo Porpora, an oil on canvas painting of flowers, called Flowers. Reports on the Focus Taiwan TV news channel suggest that organisers will not ask the boy’s family to pay for the restoration costs. The exhibition organiser, Sun Chi-hsuan, told the station the boy was not to blame and the painting, part of a private collection, was insured.