Michelangelo's <i>David</i> was attacked by a man with a hammer; the toes of the left foot were damaged. Seven fragments were rescued by gallery officials. The assailant claimed that he acted on orders from a woman in a painting by Paolo Veronese. The Director General of the Ministry of Cultural Property pointed out that Michelangelo's <i>Pietà</i> had been placed behind a protective shield after a similar attack in 1972, but that it is not possible to put every work in Italy under bulletproof glass.