A Woman Falls and Tears a Pablo Picasso Painting

The six-foot by four-foot painting, which marked the artist’s transition from his Blue period to the Rose, was damaged on Friday when a visitor attending an art class "lost her balance" and fell on to the picture.

The accident resulted in an "irregular vertical tear" in the lower right-hand corner of the canvas, which was painted in the winter of 1904 to 1905.

Fortunately, the rip was not in the "focal point of the composition", a museum spokesman said, adding that the Met hoped the repair would be unobtrusive.

The repairs to the painting should be finished in time for an exhibition of 250 works by Picasso at the museum in late April.