It has been an interesting time for our Classics pupils this week.
The week started with ‘A Lecture in Classical Leadership’ written and presented by Remove Former, David Adeyemi-Abere. The talk focussed on what we can learn from leaders from the classical world and how their principles can be applied to modern society. David told us:
“In summary, it was a talk on how the lessons we can learn from leaders in the ancient world can still be applied today. The talk was quite relaxed, with myself presenting what I had prepared and Mr Melvill pitching in with some extra detail that was useful to know. I asked the audience at the end what their reasons were for studying the ancient world. One answer was that it helped with learning other languages and cultures. For example, there are lots of Latin derivations in modern languages. On the whole I feel like the talk, “although brief, went down well and definitely showed that the classical era is still relevant today.”
On Tuesday 22 January, our Fourth Form Classics pupils enjoyed a Latin trip to University of Cambridge’s Cast Gallery which provided a great opportunity for them to develop their knowledge of classical sculpture. The gallery’s cast collection comprises over six hundred plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculpture. The collection not only brings together sculptures which are today scattered around the world in both private collections and museums open to the public, but also provides an unparalleled resource for studying and researching Roman and Greek art.
Next on the agenda was a visit to The Fitzwilliam Museum – the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, which boasts a unique collection of antiquities, applied arts, coins and medals, manuscripts and printed books, and paintings, drawings and prints.
Fourth Former Murray Silk shares his experience:
“Last Tuesday, Bedford School’s Fourth Form Classicists headed off to Cambridge for the day. We first visited the Cast Gallery at Cambridge University’s Sidgwick Site. It was an honour to be able to visit a place where university students come to study and to see the casts of sculptures from the ancient world. The range of sculptures from different time periods enabled us to see how statue-making had progressed from the early Greeks to the Romans. The sculptures became less simple, stylised and more realistic. My favourite exhibit was the busts of the emperors, as you could see their character throughout their faces.”
After a short lunch, we walked over to the Fitzwilliam Museum, where we 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! These were also my favourite exhibits in the museum, as it was amazing to know their age. After this, we returned to our coach and began the journey back to Bedford.”
It was a great day out and the boys were especially excited that famous Classicist, Mary Beard (with more than 215,000 followers on Twitter) ‘liked’ the school’s tweet about the trip!
