A man accused of putting his fist through a €10m Claude Monet painting shouted afterwards "it was an accident", his trial has heard.
Andrew Shannon, 48, of Willans Way, Ongar, Dublin 15, denies causing criminal damage to the painting at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin on 29 June 2012.
Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat was painted in 1874.
Sergeant Sean Kerr told Kerida Naidoo BL that when he arrived at the scene shortly after the incident, the accused said he did not feel well.
Mr Shannon told the garda: "I felt weak and I fell against it. I don't know what happened after that."
Gordon McArdle, a firefighter paramedic with Dublin Fire Brigade, said he examined Mr Shannon at the scene and found he had a normal pulse rate.
"His pulse was 80 beats per minutes in the gallery. Anything between 60 and 100 is normal," he said.
Mr Shannon complained of chest pain and told the paramedic he had "unstable angina".
Mr McArdle described the accused as having a normal complexion, neither pale nor flushed, with "slight beading of perspiration on his forehead".
Mr Shannon was carried to a waiting ambulance where paramedics did a full check of his vital signs, including blood pressure, oxygen levels, motor skills and pupil size.
"He was very stable. Nothing about his vital signs worried me in any way. I did an ECG on his heart and it came back normal, meaning blood supply to the heart wasn't obstructed," said Mr McArdle.
The paramedic asked Mr Shannon if he had consumed any of the contents of a can of Nitromors paint stripper that he was carrying in a plastic bag.
Mr Shannon said he was a French polisher and that was why he had the can, adding that he had not drunk any of it.
Christian Clotworthy, Security & Buildings Officer at the National Gallery, told the jury that he arrived at the scene to hear Mr Shannon shouting at a security attendant "It was an accident."
He said the accused told him he had had four previous heart attacks and an episode the night before.
"It was no accident. I did not believe what he was saying as regards his condition. His whole manner was unconvincing. His behaviour didn't ring true to me," said Mr Clotworthy.
The court heard that Mr Clotworthy is a registered cardiac first responder, diving emergency responder instructor, occupational first aider and a mountain rescue EFR man.
"I am trained to deal with somebody experiencing cardiac conditions," he said.
He added that he read the situation as a "security one not a medical one," but that he took precautions including getting a defibrillator to the scene.
Mr Clotworthy said the damage to the painting was "alarming to say the least," describing it as a "sizeable tear" just left of centre.
"The painting was struck with such force that the alarms on the far side of the wall also went off," he said.
Elline von Monschaw, Assistant Conservator with the gallery, showed the jury the wooden frame the painting hung in.
The painting itself could not be brought into court as it is under repair and too fragile.
Ms Von Monschaw said the "very harsh" breaks in the fibre of the canvas indicate that it was struck with "quite some speed and force".
However she agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that the canvas was of a very fine quality and had become delicate and brittle with age.
Ms Von Monschaw said it is a "big challenge" to repair the painting but that she is hopeful the public will be able to enjoy the work of art again.
The trial continues tomorrow before Judge Desmond Hogan and a jury of seven women and five men.
Ms Von Monschaw described the blow to the painting as "a fast impact with no hesitation or stopping".
"This was a real 'voom', a very fast movement," she said.
She said the conservators aim to get the painting back on public display, although they fear that there might be some marks still visible.
"Unfortunately the damage is in an area which is very calm and flat, it's where the sky is and the horizon. This is the resting point for the eye. Your eye is drawn to that area," she said.
The team of menders have so far succeeded in aligning all the broken threads in the canvas to their matching numbers, leaving minute gaps for the material to adjust.
About 80 particles of paint, some microscopic, were splattered over an "extremely large area" of the backing board.
The next step in the restoration is to remove these particles and fit them back to their position "like a jigsaw," before taking stock of which particles have been destroyed and need to be filled in.
Ms Von Monschaw said that when her work is finished, it will be possible to enjoy the picture from a distance of 1.5m away.
"From close up, about 15 centimetres, you will see like dots on a television screen, what is original and what has been added. You will see what Monet has painted, and what I have painted," she said.
The court heard that Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat is a particularly valuable painting because it is believed to date from 1874.
This was the first time that Monet started exhibiting with a group of artists that acquired what was originally the "negative nickname" of "the Impressionists".
She said the painting depicts a scene from the small village of Argenteuil outside Paris, where Monet lived for four or five years after he came back from the Franco-Prussian War.
She told the jury that the canvas was very fine, high-grade linen, containing 26 x 28 threads per centimetre which was double the usual thread count.
"The whole set up is lightweight. This was probably so Monet could carry it to his outdoor painting sites," she said.
The court heard further details of the authenticity of the painting, including the stamp on the rear of the canvas.
This indicates the name of Alexis Ottuz, the Parisian colourman who delivered the stretcher, the canvas and the primer.
Part of his name and the address of his workshop on rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette are visible on the stamp as well as number 15, which means it was sold for 15 sous in the old French currency.
"It was a very professionally-made canvas, marked out with pencil and cut. The colourman didn't waste a centimetre," she said.
Other labels on the back of the frame indicate various exhibitions, including one from Dublin in 1899.
Ms Von Monschaw said people enjoy Impressionist art as it "seems to make them happier" and that the Impressionist movement signalled a change of style with pioneering qualities.
She agreed that paintings by Monet are a "sought-after item", adding: "I'd love to have one."
The court heard that the National Gallery of Ireland is not allowed to sell paintings, "not even for visiting Troikas," quipped Mr Grehan.
