The boar statue watches over students passing the library. Elizabeth Needham ’09

On the evening of Friday, May 9th, the unveiling of a Choate Rosemary Hall Wild Boar took place in front of the Andrew Mellon Library, where the statue will reside permanently. The boar was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Galluzzo, parents of Gianfranco (“G”) Galluzzo ’08. In 2006, the Galluzzos also bestowed a donation towards the renovation of the Remsen Hockey Arena.

The Galluzzos’ deeds have not gone unnoticed by the student body. Although some students are baffled by the interesting position the boar poses in, most are grateful for the gift. For those who remain perplexed, an understanding of the history of the boar might help to brighten their attitudes.

The original version of the boar statue was carved from marble in 1612 but was either lost or destroyed. The Italians sculpted a replica and placed it in a central market area in Florence. Known locally as the “Il Porcellino,” or The Little Pig, it stands in a hunting scene. For centuries thousands of visitors have rubbed the boar’s nose for good luck.

The Choate boar statue, which was based on the one in Florence, shows signs of a similar tradition developing. Olivia Jorgensen ’10 said that she rubs the boar before her lacrosse games and that just last week she rubbed the boar before her math test. She says, “It is like my own Buddha that I can absorb power and strength from.” For Choate, the wild boar represents talent, excellence, and vigor; the statue attempts to reflect these aspects.

Language teacher Hannah Morris feels the boar statue is “artistically rendered.” Peri Izzo ’10 believes that it “really shows our school spirit.” But others say it looks too domestic for Choate’s boar, citing the fact that the school mascot is the wild boar. Many also think the statue’s place in front of the library is an odd location.

The bronze boar actually has a connection to Rosemary Hall in Greenwich. Choate Rosemary Hall adopted the Wild Boar as its mascot thirteen years ago. However, the Wild Boar Newspaper of Rosemary Hall was established in the 1960’s, before the female and male schools joined together. In the 1890’s, founding headmistress Caroline Ruutz-Rees established the Wild Boar crest of Rosemary Hall. She loved Europe, especially Florence, and would often travel to Italy, bringing back items such as wrought-iron gates. Because of this passion, she developed silver and gold “Wild Boar” charms, which were sold to alumni, and the mascot stuck.

The unveiling of the boar took place on a rainy Friday, and not many students were aware of it. Some were at sports practice or at the Boar Roast in the Student Activity Center. Like many other students, Celia Landesberg ’10 says she was not at the unveiling of the boar and did not know when or where the unveiling was taking place. Many of these students felt that the event should have been made more widely publicized: they had no way of knowing that the Galluzzos were giving a donation in the first place, and they would have liked to show their gratitude. If there had been a formal ceremony, students could have had the chance to be informed of the interesting history and background of the wild boar. In absence of such a publicized ceremony, though, the boar has drawn attention simply by its very presence.

The boar has been adorned with numerous student ornamentations including a sports medal and a floral wreath. For Field Day, students painted the boar blue and gold and wrote team slogans on its back. The boar has been a monument of much initial student intest on campus.