THE NATIONAL GALLERY of Ireland has welcomed the imposition of a six year prison sentence on a man who damaged a Monet worth around €10 million.
49-year-old Andrew Shannon of Willans Way, Ongar in Dublin was handed the prison sentence at Dublin Central Criminal Court this evening, following a jury verdict.
A previous trial, at the end of last year, failed due to a deadlocked jury.
“We are satisfied that justice has taken its course,” gallery director Sean Rainbird said in a statement this evening.
“The National Gallery of Ireland conforms to international standards in the care of the collection but recognises that placing valuable and fragile objects on public display carries an inevitable element of risk.”
Monet’s ‘Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat’ was damaged while on public display in the Gallery on 29 June 2012.
After 18-months of painstaking restoration work, it was returned to display on 1 July this year.
It’s currently part of the exhibition ‘Lines of Vision’ which runs until 12 April next year.
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