Paris is all a-twitter over the nomination of a top government boffin with no experience in museum administration to run the world-renowned Pompidou modern arts centre, reports the BBC.
Sceptics say that Serge Lasvignes, who served for 10 years as secretary-general at the Elysee Palace, was named by President François Hollande as part of a complex shuffling of senior posts and with little regard to the demands of his new job.
Several well-qualified figures who put themselves forward for the post were overlooked.
Former culture minister Aurélie Filippetti, who left office last year, said she regretted the way "we seem to have gone back to practices that we once condemned".
She called for proper procedures to avoid rows that ended up damaging both the institution and the nominee.
"The culture ministry is constantly being accused of nepotism, of promoting friends. It's not true, but we need total transparency," she said.
According to the rumour mill, President Hollande and prime minister Manuel Valls needed to free up the post of government secretary-general in order to accommodate another high-ranking civil servant who had been at the Constitutional Council.
And he has to move in order to find a place for the chef de cabinet of former prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
Everything was unblocked by giving Mr Lasvignes the surprise post at the Pompidou Centre, which is about to be vacated after eight years by Alain Seban.