Wednesday October 09, 2002

(New York-AP) -- A priceless 15th-century marble statue of Adam toppled over at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and broke into dozens of pieces. The museum's director - Pillippe de Montebello - says the statue fell on Sunday after one side of its four foot tall pedestal gave way.

The life-size nude statue was by Venetian sculptor Tullio Lombardo.

The statue's arms and legs and an ornamental tree trunk sustained most of the damage, breaking into several pieces. De Montebello says conservationists should be able to restore the work.

Adam's head and torso were not damaged, and the museum director said he expected the restoration would take one to two years.

The fallen statue was discovered around 9 p-m Sunday, more than three hours after closing time. Asecurity guard heard the crash.

The statue, dated 1490-95, came to the museum in 1936 and is part of its permanent collection.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2002