Rembrandt’s painting Danaë was damaged by a knife and acid attack in 1985.
On 15 June 1985, a visitor at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg splashed sulfuric acid onto the canvas and then stabbed it twice with a knife. The acid destroyed much of the paint in the central area, creating a major conservation emergency.
The Hermitage undertook a painstaking restoration that lasted more than a decade. Conservators used surviving fragments, technical examination, and photographic records to reconstruct the appearance of the damaged sections. Danaë returned to public display in 1997, although the attack remains an important part of the painting’s modern history.
The work is often confused with Rembrandt’s other famous canvases in major museums, especially The Night Watch and The Jewish Bride. Neither of those paintings was the target of the 1985 attack.