E.Fifty. Konigsburg, 'From the Mixed-Upwardly Files of Mrs. Basil Eastward. Frankweiler' (1967) (cover image via Simon & Schuster)

In East.L. Konigsburg'south 1967 children'south classicFromThe Mixed-Upwardly Files of Mrs. Basil Due east. Frankweiler, siblings Claudia and James Kincaid run away from their cushy suburban habitation in Greenwich, Connecticut, and military camp out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York Metropolis. Their hazard in luxury squatting lasts for 3 days, during which they do all the illegal things that well-nigh museum visitors just fantasize about, like lounging in Marie Antoinette's lounge chair, bathing in the Fountain of the Muses, and using Roman sarcophagi equally personal storage units.

From the Mixed-Upward Filesof Mrs. Basil Eastward. Frankweilerwas inspired, in function, by a picnic in Yellowstone National Park, where Konigsburg'south three kids started whining near as well-warm chocolate milk. "If they always wanted to run away, certainly, they would never consider a place less civilized than their suburban home," Konigsburg wrote. "Probably, they wouldn't consider a place even a smidgen less elegant than The Metropolitan Museum of Art." That notion sparked research trips to the Met, during which Konigsburg, a former scientific discipline teacher who took classes at the Art Students League, sketched her three children posing among the mummy tombs and Grecian urns. The sketches turned into beautiful blackness-and-white illustrations for the book.

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The Metropolitan Museum of Fine art (all images by the writer for Hyperallergic unless otherwise noted)

Squatter's rights definitely exercise not utilize in the hallowed halls of the Metropolitan, and anyone who was caught trying campsite out in the galleries later hours would be arrested for trespassing. But fantasizing is allowed, and so I retraced Claudia and James's journey through the museum equally described in From the Mixed-Upward Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Here, a guide to squatting in one of the globe'southward most famous art institutions, E.50. Konigsburg-fashion.

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A women's restroom at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Step Ane: Hibernate from museum guards at closing time by perching on a toilet in a bathroom stall.

[Claudia] decided that she would get to the ladies' room, and Jamie would become to the men'due south room just earlier the museum airtight. … Claudia explained to Jamie that he was to enter a booth in the men's room, 'and and then stand on [the toilet]. And keep your caput downwardly. And keep the door to the berth very slightly open up…. I'thousand sure that when they check the ladies' room and the men's room, they peek under the door and check only to see if there are feet. We must stay there until we're sure all the people and guards have gone dwelling house.' —E.L. Konigsburg,From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

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Marble Sarcophagus with Scenes from the Lives of Saint Peter and Christ, early 4th century (with modern restoration), Roman, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Footstep 2:Besprinkle your belongings: Adept hiding places include the many urns and terracotta kraters in the Greek Fly, or this marble sarcophagus, carved in Rome in the early 300s, when Christianity was outset recognized as a legal organized religion within the Roman Empire. Its ornate carvings picture biblical scenes: "The Phenomenon of Saint Peter Drawing Water from a Rock in His Jail Cell" and "Saint Peter'southward Abort in Rome."

Claudia hid her violin instance in a sarcophagus that had no chapeau. It was well to a higher place heart level, and Jamie helped hoist her up then that she could achieve information technology. It was a beautifully carved Roman marble sarcophagus. She hid her book bag behind a tapestry screen in the rooms of French furniture…. The trumpet instance was hidden inside a huge urn and Jamie's book bag was neatly tucked backside a drape that was backside a statue from the Middle Ages. —E.L. Konigsburg,From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Pace Iii:After traipsing around the galleries afterwards hours, rest your bones in this " Country Bed ," draped with blue silk damask. Dating from 1690, it was chosen past Lord Coningsby, a friend and courtier of King William, for the formal quarters of his medieval stone mansion, Hampton Court, in Herefordshire. It remained in that location until 1925. (The particular Tudor bed where Claudia and Jamie slept — and where Amy Robsart, married woman of Queen Elizabeth I'south "favorite" friend, Lord Robert Dudley, was allegedly murdered in 1560 — has been dismantled, to the disappointment of many.)

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State Bed (ca. 1698), Metropolitan Museum of Fine art

At concluding she found a bed that she considered perfectly wonderful, and she told Jamie that they would spend the dark there. The bed had a tall canopy, supported by an ornately carved headboard at one and and by two gigantic posts at the other. (I'yard familiar with that bed, Saxonberg. It is as enormous and fussy every bit mine.) —E.L. Konigsburg,From the Mixed-Upward Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

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E.L. Konigsburg, illustration of "State Bed" from 'From the Mixed-Upwardly Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler' (1967)

Footstep Four:Kill two birds with one stone past both bathing and collecting coins in the museum's fountains. Konigsburg's protagonists bathed amidst water sprites in the Fountain of the Muses, which has been moved to South Carolina, merely the fountain with two cherubs in the Charles Engelhard Courtroom in the American Wing volition do just fine.

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Fountain in Charles Engelhard Court, American Wing, Metropolitan Museum of Art

They shed their wearing apparel and waded into the fountain. Claudia had taken powdered lather from the restroom…. When [Jamie] got into the puddle, he found bumps on the bottom; smooth bumps. 'Income, Claudia, Income!' he whispered. Claudia understood immediately and began to scoop up bumps on the lesser of the fountain. The crash-land were pennies and nickels people had pitched into the fountain to make a wish. At least four people had thrown in dimes and ane had tossed in a quarter. Together they collected $2.87. —Due east.L. Konigsburg,From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

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Eastward.50. Konigsburg, illustration from "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" (1967)

Pace Five:Lounge in Marie Antoinette'due south lounge chair and consume petit fours at her writing desk. Or,  to honor the original inspiration for the book, eat popcorn: A kernel of an idea for the book came in the form of arogue piece of popcorn spotted at the Met. "My three children and I were visiting the Museum, wandering through the menstruum rooms on the first floor when I spotted a single piece of popcorn on the seat of a bluish silk chair," Konigsburg wrote. "There was a velvet rope across the doorway of the room. How had that lonely piece of popcorn arrived on the seat of that blueish silk chair? Had someone sneaked in one night — information technology could not accept happened during the mean solar day — slipped behind the barrier, sabbatum in that chair, and snacked on popcorn?"

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Mechanical table (Table mécanique) used past Marie Antoinette (1778) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Step vi:Wait smug. You're an Upper East Sider now.

Jamie looked over at Claudia …. Claudia looked as satisfied as the bronze statue of the Egyptian cat she was continuing most. The merely real departure between them was that the true cat wore tiny golden earrings and looked a trifle less smug. — Due east.50. Konigsburg,From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

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Due east.L. Konigsburg, analogy from "From the Mixed-Upwards Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" (1967)

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Cat Statuette intended to contain a mummified cat (Ptolemaic Period) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

From The Mixed-Upward Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,published by Simon & Schuster, is available from Amazon and other online booksellers.

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Carey Dunne is a Brooklyn-based writer covering arts and culture. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Baffler, The Hamlet Phonation, and elsewhere. More by Carey Dunne