A 20-year-old man was formally accused of having damaged a Pablo Picasso painting last Saturday worth 20 million pounds (26.3 million dollars / 23.5 million euros) in the Tate Modern gallery in London, confirmed this Tuesday the British police.
The museum of contemporary art has withdrawn the work of the Spanish genius, Bust of a Woman, dated 1944, in order to assess the damage after apparently being torn apart by that individual, who was "quickly arrested" after committing the wrongdoing , according to Tate.
Shakeel Massey , a native of North London, said he will deny the charge of "criminal damage" during a hearing held yesterday before the Court of Magistrates of Camberwell, in the British capital.
Since his arrest, the defendant has remained in police custody pending a preliminary hearing to be held on January 30.
As revealed by a spokesman for the Tate, who has not given details about the magnitude of what happened, the affected work shows the artist's lover, Dora Maar , and was painted in Paris in May 1944, during the last months of the occupation Nazi.
"The work is now with our conservation team to be evaluated by experts, " said the spokesman.
For its part, the London Metropolitan Police (Met) reported Tuesday in a statement that agents investigate the "incident of criminal damage that occurred at Tate Modern on Saturday, December 28," for which a male.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more- Pablo Picasso
- London
Leisure December bridge in Madrid? Spend the morning with Tutankhamen, the afternoon in a flea market and the night with Enrique Iglesias and Rosalía
Temporary The mayor of Nerva figures in 200 buildings flooded by rains
Culture Miguel Rodríguez-Acosta donates 145 works to the documentary fund of the foundation of which he is honorary president