Fourth Form Latin pupils enjoyed a stimulating visit to the University of Cambridge’s Cast Gallery on Thursday 13 January providing them with a great opportunity to develop their knowledge of classical sculpture. The gallery’s cast collection comprises over six hundred plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculpture, bringing together sculptures that today are scattered around the world in both private collections and museums, providing an unparalleled resource for studying and researching Roman and Greek art. Boys learned about the development of sculpture and had the opportunity to analyse artefacts related to everyday life in the ancient world.
Next on the agenda was a visit to The Fitzwilliam Museum: the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, where the boys were able to place their knowledge of the Greek and Roman world into sharper context while perusing the museum’s unique collection of antiquities, applied arts, coins and medals, manuscripts and printed books, and paintings, drawings and prints.
The boys were given the task of finding the oldest artefacts in the museum. These turned out to be a small collection of items including a sharp flint and a bowl dating back to 12,000 BC!