FROM THE PROFESSOR MARIANGELA BRANCALE
Already a few meters away from the VF Cassano primary school there is an air of celebration.
It is 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 22. The school is open, the lights are on. There are no colorful and noisy school children, but many adults, elegant, ready, it seems, for an event.
A party is planned, the farewell to Headmaster Saverio Pansini which he directed masterfully for three years the Cassano-De Renzio comprehensive institute.
The time has come to leave school. Bureaucracy decides like this for everyone sooner or later, but the head and heart of Manager Pansini will continue to work, we are sure of it.
The party begins with a speech by the Principal, to call him the old fashioned way. He emotionally retraces the stages of an adventure made of courageous challenges, but always carefully considered. He worked with an exceptional team, supported by his right-hand man, the teacher Anna Maria Cutrone who tells everyone about his training experience, including comparisons, efforts, teachings, rewards.
And in this festive event there is also room for the memory of Saverio Pansini, professor of art history. The audience smiles curiously and listens to the story of one of his former students.
It was the 1991-1992 school year when, after two years of gymnasium, we arrived at high school. The change of teachers was then ritual; it was a transition from a two-year “technical” period to a three-year period where the panorama of knowledge became more complex, in some ways even more abstract, certainly broader, with the entry of new disciplines such as art history.
In those years at the Bitonto classical high school, in the section. B class that I attended, taught by extraordinary teachers, but very rigorous and, it must be said, a little advanced in age. Among them the prof. Giovina Castro, prof. Domenico Saracino, the prof. Philip Eliato name only those who are no longer with us. Studying their subjects meant spending all afternoon hours, and often evening hours, sitting at our messy desks, between Greek translations, chemical formulas and philosophical theories. In the first days of high school (third year) we also met him, the art history teacher.
He was already graying, but decidedly young, indeed to our eyes, accustomed to older teachers, he appeared very young and charming. Thus was born the hope of finding shelter in him, a comfort amidst so much rigor, but we soon understood that the history of art would also unequivocally vindicate his dignity.
Penalty? Yes.
Competence? A lot.
Passion? A lot.
His original way of describing works of art, of giving value to every detail, of leading us to critical interpretations immediately captured us. Some nicknamed him Sgarbievoking, of course, only its professional value.
His explanations naturally imposed silence and attention; each time it was like setting off on a journey through frescoes, paintings, sculptures. But after the engaging explanations came the sad moment of the dreaded oral exams. The textbook did not excite him: the information was too basic and there was no form of criticism. The choice was up to us. We could have been satisfied with a decent evaluation by studying from the book we had adopted, but to aspire to a more gratifying evaluation we had to study from the art history manual of Giulio Carlo Argan. His expression of satisfaction with gestures of open approval was unforgettable when he recognized in some of us the in-depth study suggested by Argan. Then there was also a time for homework in class. Everyone had to analyze a different work of art. Everything was calculated to make the possibility of copying zero. And then again the Art dossier files that we went to buy specifically from Bari. And the educational trips… nothing but audio guides!
There are still many anecdotes that each of us keeps in the treasure chest of memories of the best years, but it is time to say goodbye.
To our dear Professor Pansini we dedicate our affectionate thanks for all that he taught us. We owe him the ability to read, recognize and interpret Beauty in all its forms. We wish him a well-deserved rest, certain that he will continue to give himself.
