Water leaks into the Louvre’s Cimabue exhibition, landing close to the master’s greatest early painting

This article was first published by the Art Newspaper.

Water from a hailstorm leaked into the Musée du Louvre on Saturday (3 May), almost dripping on Cimabue’s Maestà, arguably the greatest early Western European painting. Dating from 1280-85, it is the centrepiece of the exhibition A New Look at Cimabue: At the Origins of Italian Painting (22 January-12 May). I was in the gallery, noticing the drops before the guards were alerted.

A Louvre spokesperson confirmed to The Art Newspaper today that the museum “did experience some water infiltration in areas where the glass roofs are located”. Importantly, “no works were damaged”.

Some drops of water actually fell on the base of the nearby Three Acolytes (1264-67), by the studio of the sculptor Nicola Pisano. He is considered the founder of modern sculpture. The work is on loan from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence.