Geopolitica dell’archeologia in Terra di Lavoro (1800-1815): la nuova distribuzione spaziale delle indagini archeologiche ufficiali tra una restaurazione borbonica e l’altra.
Résumé
In 1806, the exile of the Bourbons and the arrival of Giuseppe Bonaparte on the throne, have evident and immediate repercussions on archeology in the Kingdom of Naples. In particular, the province of Terra di Lavoro proves to be a place of crystallization of the conflict between pro-Bourbon antique dealers and those who see the new government as an opportunity for social and scientific progress. This climate of political tensions and profound changes generates, as a more visible consequence, a redistribution of the geographical space of official archaeological investigations (that is, those authorized with excavation permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs).
In the last decades of the 1700s, Nola had become, with Lord Hamilton, the center of archaeological investigations aimed at feeding the antiques market and collecting antique vases. After 1806, however, the intimidating shadow cast on the city of Nola by the Vivenzio brothers - openly anti-French - shifts the center of gravity of the archaeological activity of the province of Terra di Lavoro to places already investigated in the past, such as Sant'Agata dei Goti , or until then little explored for the search for ancient vases, such as Santa Maria Capua Vetere and the districts of Casertano.
This intervention will focus the attention on some examples of archaeological discoveries in Terra di Lavoro between 1800 and 1815 to highlight their patrimonial and political uses between the two Bourbon restorations in the Kingdom of Naples.