Dear Bruni,
I still remember when I first arrived at Bryn Mawr in 1979 (!) for my master of arts degree and I met you as my professor of archaeology. It was a special encounter of two Italians abroad, which really changed my life. I came from an Italian university, and obviously my background was better than that of American students. But my approach was a traditional one, mainly focused on art history, and not a "rational" one. This is why your first words were: "I know the world you come from, and so my advice is: be critical." You taught me another way of thinking and working, which went beyond the beauty of art works and the magic spell of ruins that attracted me. Preparing my lectures for the seminars, I learned to analyze and criticize sources, to be thorough, and to challenge traditional theories.
When I asked to do my M.A. thesis on mosaics, you and Gloria Pinney proposed me Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli: a typical example of a Roman site which had been studied for centuries only for its treasures — and for the rest was virtually unknown.Your proposal really changed my life: I devoted a great part of my studies to that outstanding site and became one of the most important scholars of Hadrian’s Villa (and of Roman villas in general). I summarized previous studies and traditional interpretations of Hadrian’s Villa, discovering its true meaning and function, also with archeoastronomy (https://www.brynmawr.edu/www.villa-adriana.net). Thanks to you, Bruni, I was able to take advantage of both the "humanistic" Italian approach and the "rational" American one.
I am glad that we kept in touch during all these years. I wished we could organize a conference for you with other former students and scholars. I still think we should write articles for a Festschrift in your honor, and I hope that this proposal will find other supporters and succeed.
A final quote of Solon, since Ancient Greece is your world: "I get old, but I always learn new things." You always studied and learned and went beyond paradigms with new ideas. And you still do: switching to the digital era was no problem for you. Thanks to the Internet, today we can easily reach you with all our love, and gratitude for what you taught us.
Buon Compleanno e auguri di tutto cuore!
Brunilde Ridgway, Rhys Carpenter Professor Emeritus of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, is celebrating her 90th birthday. In honor of this milestone, her former students, colleagues, and friends have been invited to share memories of their beloved mentor, teacher, and friend. View the list of messages.