Michelangelo's David, arguably the world's most famous sculpture, was damaged in a Florence museum today when a man the police described as deranged broke part of a toe with a hammer, saying a 16th-century Venetian painter's model ordered him to do so.

Officials at the Galleria dell'Accademia museum said the damage was reparable since all the fragments from the shattered toe had been collected. But the museum's director, Antonio Paolucci, added: "The moral impact remains. The world's most famous statue has been damaged."

The 13-foot high statue was carved from a single block of marble between the years 1501 and 1504. While a replica is displayed in a Florence square, the original -- attacked today -- is kept in the museum.

Police officials said 47-year-old Piero Cannata, an unemployed Italian, had struck at the statue with a hammer he had hidden under his jacket, breaking the second toe of the left foot. Museum patrons struggled to subdue him until the police arrived.