Top secrets. I primi decenni degli scavi borbonici
In: Studi e Ricerche del Parco Archeologico di Pompei: 43, 2020
DOI: 10.48255/1168
With regard to the enormous interest for the excavations in the Vesuvian area, during the first decades after the discovery, there was a huge
gap between the fame of Herculaneum and the information about the excavations and the finds.
The excavations of the cities buried by Vesuvius, begun in 1738, and all the activities connected with them were under the control of the
Royal Court. The rediscovery of the antique cities was interpreted as evidence of the “Buon Regno” of Carlo di Borbone. The excavations
were in fact a “state affair” and consequently the results of the excavations were considered “top secret”.
From contemporary testimonies it can be shown that there is a logical concept behind the restrictions which seem rather absurd (a museum
where visitors are not allowed to study the objects, a publication which was not on the market).
Its ideological background and its consequences are the subject of this paper.