A 15th century terra-cotta sculpture of Saint Michael the Archangel by Andrea della Robbia was damaged after it fell to the stone floor inside New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to museum officials.

The 15th-century relief sculpture was found by a guard on regular rounds.

Harold Holzer, a museum spokesman, said the 62-inch-by-32-inch blue-and-white sculpture depicting St. Michael the Archangel dressed in armor and holding a sword and scales which had been hanging over a doorway in the European Paintings and Decorative Arts Galleries since 1996 might have done a flip in the air as it fell, causing it to land relatively flat on its reverse side and sparing it “catastrophic damage,” the New York Times reported.

The piece had its wings broken but the face was not damaged because it was protected by the wooden frame, said the museum spokesman. He said there were no immediate indications of what caused the sculpture to topple.

“The good thing is that it landed on its back,” the spokesman said. “If it had fallen on its face, it could have been irretrievably damaged.”

As a result of the accident, the Met is inspecting all its pedestals and wall mounts, the AP noted. Museum curators will conduct an investigation to try to determine the cause of the accident. A preliminary inspection concluded that the sculpture can be repaired and returned to the public view.