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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/arts/met-s-15th-century-adam-shatters-as-pedestal-collapses.html

Met's 15th-Century 'Adam' Shatters as Pedestal Collapses

By CELESTINE BOHLEN

Published: October 9, 2002

A 15th-century marble statue of Adam by the Venetian sculptor Tullio Lombardo crashed to the ground in the Velez Blanco Patio at the Metropolitan Museum of Art sometime Sunday evening, scattering its arms, legs and an ornamental tree trunk into dozens of pieces.

The statue's fall -- a museum's nightmare -- was confirmed yesterday morning by museum officials, who said they had delayed an announcement for a day while a preliminary investigation took place. The indoor patio, originally located in a castle in Spain, was screened off to the public yesterday as curators combed the tile floor for fragments. The museum barred news photographers from taking pictures, even from the balconies above.

Harold Holzer, the museum's chief spokesman, said the museum has now tentatively concluded that the 6-foot-3-inch statue fell to the ground when one side of the 4-inch-high base of its pedestal apparently buckled, tipping over both the pedestal and statue.

''We are reasonably certain that it collapsed inexplicably but on its own,'' Mr. Holzer said. The investigation is continuing, he added, but vandalism had been initially ruled out since there was no evidence of the statue itself having been struck or pushed.