The Trip To The Museum, parts 1414 - 1417

1414. She remembered her first visit to the museum all her life. The strongest impression was that it was a big building devoted to important things, and that the important things had special boxes, frames, or pedestals. All of the objects were in constant danger of being touched and needed special protection, especially from children.

1415. There were even some rooms which had to be locked up containing things children were never allowed to see. Why these things were so important was unclear to Agnes when she was 7 years old. Some of the things were obviously complicated, framed with golden frames, and shiny looking, but then there were dusty broken stone objects that looked like they had been removed from the cemetery.

1416. She had the greatest curiosity about a certain locked room. As the group of children mounted the stairs to the second floor one of the staff went on ahead and closed and locked the double doors leading to that room. Just before the doors were closed Agnes saw that the room contained very large, extremely dark looking paintings, mostly of people and animals.

 1417. She did not get a good look at those paintings, but her impression was: they must be religious pictures because they were similar to the paintings hanging in some of the rooms of the church next door to her school. The museum made a deep impression on Agnes but most of all the locked room containing the paintings she was not allowed to see.