Accordiing to doctors and aides, Italy's Premier Silvio Berlusconi will remain hospitalized until at least Tuesday with a fractured nose and two broken teeth . Berlusconi suffered from an attack by Massimo Tartaglia, a 42-year-old, a mentally disturbed man who hit him in the face with a statuette.
A government official said he expected the premier's protection to be tightened after an emergency meeting of security officials.
Berlusconi was rushed to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan with his face covered in blood after the attack in the northern Italian city Sunday afternoon.
Police first said it appeared the assailant had punched Berlusconi in the face while clutching a souvenir statue of Milan's Duomo, or gargoyled cathedral, which symbolizes the city. But state TV later showed a video, somewhat blurry, of what appeared to be the attacker's hand coming close to Berlusconi's face while holding the statue, then letting go of the object at the last minute as it hit the premier's face, The Associated Press reports.
It was also reported, t he medical bulletin released at midday on Monday said Mr Berlusconi was taking pain killers and antibiotics.
His nose is to be reset and he has been given stitches, though he will not need surgery.
Mr Berlusconi's doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, has said it could take a few weeks for the prime minister to fully recover.
"I found him shaken, embittered, as if he had been woken from a bad dream really disheartened," he was quoted as saying, BBC News reports.
Meanwhile, i t came at the end of a turbulent year for the three-time prime minister, who since April has been battling controversy in his private life and political and business affairs.
His wife, Veronica Lario, 53, is suing him for divorce, he has been accused of sleeping with a prostitute at his mansion in Rome. Mr Berlusconi has repeatedly denied paying for sexual favours.
In October Italy's highest court slapped down a law which gave him immunity from prosecution, reactivating two corruption trials.
Last week he was accused of having colluded with the mafia at the start of his political career in the early 1990s – allegations he angrily denied.
2008 File photo of Italian PM Berlusconi 
The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is to remain in the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, following yesterday's assault which left him with facial damage, two broken teeth, a broken nose and cuts to his lips. The assault on the 73-year-old media mogul came at the end of a political rally where Prime Minister Berlusconi had addressed the assembled crowd.  

Berlusconi will now stay in hospital until at least Tuesday, and according to a bulletin released to Italian Media, he is able to eat, but only with difficulty.

He was approached and hit in the face by 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia, who was carrying a replica of Milan's Duomo Cathedral at the time, made out of some form of heavy material according to eyewitnesses. Tartaglia is now in police custody, and has been charged with aggravated assault.

The leader of the Northern League, an Italian Far-Right organisation, Umberto Bossi, said what had happened was an "act of terrorism" and described the attack as a "worrying sign".

In a statement released to the media, Berlusconi's spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, said that "we try to keep him at rest. He would like to re-immerse himself into his frantic activity, but doctors say caution is necessary."