Boy hits a painting.
A trip to the art museum could have turned into a very costly trip indeed for one child in Taiwan when he lost his balance and put his hand through a painting worth around $1.5 million.
"Flowers" by Italian master Paolo Porpora is part of a Taipei exhibition of artwork by or influenced by Leonardo da Vinci. Organisers don't believe the boy intentionally vandalised the oil painting saying, “it's obvious he didn't mean to push it. I merely think the kid might have been focusing on what the teacher was saying and his eyes were elsewhere, so he accidentally stepped on the platform and had a bit of a fall."
The incident may prompt a change in the way valuable paintings are displayed here in the future.
"I think that the painting should have been displayed behind glass because displaying it in the open is very dangerous. There's just nothing to protect the painting as people go up to it and carelessly touch it because a lot of people will be looking at it."
Luckily, the exhibition organisers have decided not to charge the boy for the damage and say the painting can be easily restored.