Louvre Museum's Denon gallery damaged by water leak but Mona Lisa spared

PARIS- The Louvre museum's Denon gallery, where its most valuable paintings are displayed, was hit by a water leak on Thursday evening, though the area of the famous Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was unaffected, a union representative told Reuters on Friday.

"Due to a technical failure on the upper floor during the night, the area is closed to the public and a scaffolding has been set up," the representative said.

A spokesperson for the museum had no immediate comment on the incident.

The leak happened in the room 707, where paintings from 19th century French artist Charles Meynier and 16th century Italian artist Bernardino Luini are displayed. No evaluation of possible damage was available as of Friday at noon, the union representative said.

The water leak is the second in less than three months in a museum that has gone through a spate of recent setbacks - including a spectacular jewel heist, strikes and a massive ticket fraud investigation- that have put its management under intense scrutiny.

-Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten/Reuters