Taiwan boy accidentally damages $1.5 mn Italian painting

A 12-year-old boy accidentally punched a hole through
a $1.5 million centuries-old Italian oil painting when he
tripped and fell into the piece during an exhibition in
Taiwan.
The painting, entitled "Flowers" by Italian artist Paolo
Porpora, dates back to the 1600s and is part of a
collection of 55 artworks on show in the country's
capital.
Video footage released by the organisers shows the boy
on Sunday trip over a platform in front of the artwork
and then brace himself against the painting to break his
fall. He then looks around helplessly before walking
away.
"The child fell and pressed onto the painting, putting a
fist-sized tear in it," an employee at TST Art of
Discovery, which organised The Face of Leonardo
exhibition in Taipei, told AFP.
The organisers have decided not to seek damages from
the boy's family, according to Central News Agency.
The painting was restored on site Monday and is now
back on exhibition.
A self-portrait by Leonardo Da Vinci worth 200 million
euros ($231 million) is also being exhibited at the show,
according to the exhibition's website.
Other museum accidents include when a British man in
2006 smashed a set of 300-year-old Chinese vases after
tripping over his shoelaces at a museum in Cambridge.
Las Vegas gaming tycoon Steve Wynn that same year
accidentally poked his elbow through the canvas of a
Picasso painting he had just sold for $139m.