San Marco II, Bargello, Tuesday, March 16, 2010

It’s the day before St. Patrick’s Day, not that I’m counting. Absolutely beautiful day in Firenze, again! For about five minutes, in the early afternoon as we were all sitting in the Piazza Della Signoria enjoying the sunshine, a few clouds interrupted our otherwise perfect day. We actually thought it might rain. How dare it! But it didn’t. The weather gods were with us.

After Chapel in the Lobby of Hotel Kraft, it was off on a visit to San Marco to explore the incredible life of the crazy monk Savonarola, and the incredible work of Fra Angelico. The small, sparse, but beautifully frescoed cells, the cloister, and the story of Savonarola who was eventually burned alive in Piazza Della Signoria, where we would soon enjoy lunch, captivated the boys’ imaginations. The boys were also struck by the glistening wings of the Archangel Gabrielle in Fra Angelico's Annunciation, Ghirlandaio's Last Supper, and the frescoed cell of the Kiss of Judas; which, ironically, is the cell outside which Savonarola was arrested.

Following the Dominican Convent, it was a quick walk to the Bargello where we, among other things, viewed and sketched in situ the final two of our four Davids—Verrocchio’s and Donatello’s. Donatello’s was the earliest sculpted, 1430; then Verrochio's, Michelangelo's, and finally Bernini’s, Baroque, mid 1600s. Two are bronze and two marble. They are all spectacular.

Several excited parents joined the group for the morning. It was fun for the boys to hear a little from home. Unfortunately, some luggage was lost en route; however it has all been recovered. Things have settled.

The day ended with Sports at Le Cascine. Highlights included a soccer and football game where, when Coach Morales made the call to end the games, both a touchdown and a goal were scored in the waning seconds—an exciting outcome!

Lights out in a few minutes. All are healthy.

A happy day!

Ciao.

Comments

OLIVER!

This morning our fifth graders continued a great year-end tradition at Saint David's, The Fifth Grade Musical. The boys performed Oliver! and they were fantastic, providing impressive performances and demonstrating great vocal ability. They have been mastering the dialogue and musical numbers for weeks, and clearly gave it their all. Congratulations to the cast on a job well done, and to their Producers/Teachers James Hubbard and Jamie MacNeille, Director Phyllis Clark, Musical Conductor Jeff Moore, and the Parent Committee of Cynthia Chapman, Susan Kissane, Tara Neumann, Joyce Restituto, and Ann Roberts. Musical theater is alive and well at Saint David's!

Sixth Graders Meet with Dr. Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at the American Museum of Natural History

Dr. Carter Emmart with Saint David's Sixth Graders This past Friday, as part of our unique partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, sixth graders had the great honor to attend a private lecture given by Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at AMNH. Dr. Emmart told the boys about his passion for science along with an overview of the history of the Hayden Planetarium. He also gave the boys advice on how to take scientific information about the universe and compile it into an interesting and captivating show for an audience. The boys were able to see Dr. Emmart's original sketches, which helped create the Uniview program they are using to develop their presentations. The session provided our boys with an opportunity to learn how art and science come together in the planetarium, and to obtain expert advice on developing their own space shows from one of the creators of Uniview . You can learn more about Dr. Emmart's work and Univie...

Tales of a Good Man

"Sometime in the midst of all this, we became friends. And his story, and all its vast world passed into mine." --From the Introduction of Blood & Oil by Roxane Farmanfarmaian. "Stories are so important; they become traditions that tell about the good that often comes out of bad experiences..." So began Roxane Farmanfarmaian's fascinating talk Monday night at Saint David's Seventh Grade Father-Son Dinner. Dr. Farmanfarmaian, Affiliated Lecturer of Modern Middle East Studies at the Political and International Studies Department at Cambridge University, was introduced by her nephew, Saint David's seventh grader Cyrus '17. She spoke to the seventh grade boys and their fathers about what makes a "Good Man" through the prism of her book Blood & Oil : A Prince's Memoir of Iran from the Shah to the Ayatollah (Random House 2005), which she co-authored with her late father, Prince Manucher Farmanfarmaian. The memoir i...

Headmaster's Blog

Search This Blog