Museum. Crouching Boy
“Paradoxically though it may seem, it is none the less true that life imitates art far more than art imitates life.”
— Oscar Wilde
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We’re in this major museum, I forget which, struck by the forcefulness of the drama being played out on the wall in front of us. The painting, done in the high drama style of Caravaggio, was titled Christ Driving out the Money Changers from the Temple. It was painted in 1618 by Valentin de Boulogne. The dynamic energy and movement, driven by two strong diagonals, has us engrossed.
Suddenly a boy charges into the gallery, dashes past us to the wall where a cell phone is being charged. He crouches to examine the phone and I quickly position myself to take this photo before he rushes off again.
Where are his parents, I wonder. Adults who can teach him appropriate behavior in a museum and draw his attention to the drama being enacted above his head. He seems totally disconnected from it all.
Later, I look at the image. The boy is crouched, just like the money changers. The color of his clothes matches theirs and his backpack matches the burgundy color of a cap in the painting. In the picture, a diagonal when extended, runs directly through the boy. There is a rail in front of the painting that resembles an arrow pointing straight to the boy’s head. Finally, the boy is connected to his cell phone which in turn is connected to the wall on which the painting is supported.
The conclusion for me is inescapable. Paradoxically, while undoubtably disconnected, he was for a moment, strongly connected to the drama. Only he was totally unaware of
it. Such is life.