Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, is to spend a second night in hospital after an attack at a rally in Milan left him with a broken nose and two broken teeth.
The 73-year-old is in "persistent" pain, the hospital said on Monday, while his personal doctor said it would take the premier around three weeks to recover from the ordeal.
Berlusconi was taken to hospital on Sunday night after a man said to have a history of mental illness assaulted him with a souvenir statuette.
Paolo Bonaiuti, the Italian leader's spokesman, said Berlusconi was tired and had a severe headache on Monday.
"We try to keep him at rest. He would like to re-immerse himself into his frantic activity, but doctors say caution is necessary," he said.
'Political degradation'
Pictures of Berlusconi's bloodied face dominated Italian newspapers on Monday, with even media usually opposed to the controversial prime minister condemning the attack.
The left-wing daily
La Repubblica said the assault "highlights the degradation of the political climate in Italy".
"Friends and enemies, partisans and opponents must show solidarity" with Berlusconi, it said.
"What is at stake is nothing less than liberty."
James Walston, a professor of Italian politics at the American University of Rome, told Al Jazeera that the attack was likely to see Berlusconi's popularity rise in the short term.
"But whether he is able to use that for political measures ... remains to be seen," he said.
"His supporters are passionate about him, as his opponents are very, very passionate against him. He's a hugely divisive figure."
The alleged assailant, 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia, was arrested following the attack and placed in an isolation cell, police said.
Tartaglia is said to have thrown a replica of Milan's gothic cathedral Duomo, which has a metal base and dozens of sharp spires, at the prime minister during a political rally.
Corruption trials
The attack comes at the end of a difficult year for Berlusconi.
His popularity recently plummeted after accusations of sexual encounters with escorts, a separation from his wife, the loss of immunity prosecution and the restart of two corruption trials.
The prime minister faces allegations that he paid his British former tax lawyer, David Mills, $600,000 to give false evidence in two trials in the 1990s.
Earlier this month, about 350,000 Italians called for his resignation in what they dubbed the "No Berlusconi Day".
In 2004, an Italian bricklayer hurled a camera tripod at Berlusconi, injuring him slightly on the head.