[MSN] Madonna punctured

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Madonna punctured
Both of the recovered Munch masterpieces have suffered damage, and it will take time before work on the paintings is finally finished.

Munch's Madonna has taken the hardest beating during the two years the paintings have been missing.

"Madonna, which is painted on canvas, has received two tears. Together they comprise a hole the size of a 20-kroner coin (27.5mm/1 inch in diameter)," Ingebjørg Ydstie, acting director of the Munch Museum, told Aftenposten.no.

Ydstie said that the damage to Madonna is on the lower left side of the painting, and that the canvas stretcher frame is also broken.

The Scream, which is painted on board, is damaged in one corner.

"The painting is curled in one corner, if you can say that. It is impact damage, and the painting appears to have taken a hard blow, and some of the paint has peeled off," Ydstie said, and emphasized that she is reporting damage visible to the naked eye.

Other types of damage that only restorers can observe, such as damage to the paint or from exposure will require specialist examination. This process will begin today, Friday.

The work to be done will take time and it is likely to be months until the paintings are on display again, Ydstie said.

"Now the specialists must have time to work in peace. We cannot display the paintings, or say anything new about them, just now," the director said.

Security at the Munch Museum has been drastically heightened after the shock robbery on Aug. 22, 2004. The City of Oslo has used around NOK 40 million (USD 6.3 million) to improve the security of museum's treasures.