Post Wire Services
Last updated: 8:04 am
July 2, 2008
Posted: 4:03 am
July 2, 2008
A 15th-century sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art came loose from its moorings and fell to the floor, breaking into pieces, the museum said yesterday.
The terra cotta sculpture of St. Michael the Archangel, by Andrea della Robbia, fell either late Monday night or early yesterday, according to the museum.
The sculpture, hanging from a wall in the European Paintings and Decorative Arts Galleries, had its wings broken cleanly off, said museum spokesman Harold Holzer.
Its face, encased in a wooden frame, was not damaged, Holzer said.
A preliminary investigation indicates the 62-inch- wide by 32-inch-high sculpture can be repaired, the museum said.
The piece was commissioned around 1475 for the church of San Michele Arcangelo in Faenza, a small town in Italy. After passing through private collectors it was sold to the museum in 1960.
As a result of the accident, the Met is inspecting all of its pedestals and wall mounts.
