The youth museum

The youth museum

It was during the All Saint’s school holiday, on a weekday afternoon. I had come from far, and the museum made an excellent impression on me. I passed various groups of youths attentively listening to their guides in rooms often neglected by hurried visitors. I had just overheard a commentary on The Resurrection of Lazarus by the fifteenth-century Netherlandish painter Geertgen tot Sint Jans that a young woman was delivering to a dozen teenagers gathered around her and studiously taking notes (Richelieu, room 818). For this visit, I had decided to see resurrections of Lazarus and self-portraits. Why, you might ask? I can’t remember. But I was looking for the little enameled copper medallion engraved by Jean Fouquet around 1450, because it is one of the oldest self-portraits in the museum (Richelieu, room 505). Since it is tiny, I inspected all the display cases. Now, the whole middle of the room was occupied by a kindergarten in the company of as many school teachers, assuming they weren’t the parents. This entire little world was very well behaved, sitting cross-legged, filled with curiosity, happy to be there. Enough to justify a museum’s existence. I flitted around their circle, in search of Fouquet’s medallion.