Son of the homonymus spanish painter, Francesco La Vega was born in Rome in 1737 and moved to Naples at an early age, where he benefitted from the protection of King Charles of Bourbon, who subsequently sent the young architect back to Rome and paid for him to futher his studies. In Rome, La Vega assiduously studied antique architecture in the ambit of the international Grand Tour. After winning the first prize of the first class in architecture in the ‘concorso Clementino’, the international competition at the Academy of Saint Luke, La Vega returned to Naples, and joined the civil corps of engineers. In 1764, he succeeded Karl Jacob Weber, recently deceased, to take over the excavations at Herculaneum, and in 1780 he became director of the excavations; moreover, from 1781 he was instated director of the Herculanense museum, and in 1787 elected member of the renowned Royal Academy of Herculaneum, roles he held until he died, in 1804, at Portici. This contribution directly follows the thread of La Vega’s progressive and increasing specialization from his professional training as architect – an architect moreover fully engaged in the planning of the post-earthquake reconstruction of Calabria Ulteriore – to that of a true archaeologist, curator of systematic works of excavation, and draftsman of the systematic recording of the archeaological finds and sites of the most fertile archeaologic deposits of Italy: from Pompei to Herculaneum to Stabia, as well as other localities of the Vesuvian area.
Figlio dell’omonimo pittore spagnolo, Francesco La Vega nacque a Roma nel 1737 e si trasferì a Napoli in giovane età, dove godette della protezione di re Carlo di Borbone, che lo inviò a perfezionarsi a Roma a spese dell’erario. Qui studiò attentamente l’architettura antica a stretto contatto con l’ambiente internazionale del Grand Tour, e dopo la vittoria nel 1762 del primo premio della prima classe del concorso Clementino di architettura presso l’Accademia di San Luca rientrò a Napoli arruolandosi nel corpo degli ingegneri del Genio. Nel 1764 succedette all’appena defunto Karl Jacob Weber come responsabile degli scavi di Ercolano, divenendone direttore nel 1780; fu inoltre direttore del Museo Ercolanense nel 1781 e dal 1787 membro della rinnovata Regale Accademia Ercolanese, ruoli che mantenne fino alla sua morte, avvenuta a Portici nel 1804. Il contributo si svilupperà seguendo il filo della progressiva specializzazione di La Vega, da architetto − peraltro impegnato nella pianificazione della ricostruzione post terremoto della Calabria ulteriore − a vero e proprio archeologo, curatore di sistematiche operazioni di scavo, rilievo e allestimento di ambienti e reperti del più fertile giacimento archeologico d’Italia: da Pompei, a Ercolano, Stabia, e altre località dell’area vesuviana.
Francesco La Vega. Genesi di un architetto archeologo tra Roma e Napoli nel Settecento / Manfredi, Tommaso. - (2020), pp. 53-67. (Intervento presentato al convegno L’Antichità del Regno. Archeologia, tutela e restauri nel Mezzogiorno preunitario tenutosi a Reggio Calabria nel 26-29 aprile 2017).
Francesco La Vega. Genesi di un architetto archeologo tra Roma e Napoli nel Settecento
Tommaso Manfredi
2020-01-01
Abstract
Son of the homonymus spanish painter, Francesco La Vega was born in Rome in 1737 and moved to Naples at an early age, where he benefitted from the protection of King Charles of Bourbon, who subsequently sent the young architect back to Rome and paid for him to futher his studies. In Rome, La Vega assiduously studied antique architecture in the ambit of the international Grand Tour. After winning the first prize of the first class in architecture in the ‘concorso Clementino’, the international competition at the Academy of Saint Luke, La Vega returned to Naples, and joined the civil corps of engineers. In 1764, he succeeded Karl Jacob Weber, recently deceased, to take over the excavations at Herculaneum, and in 1780 he became director of the excavations; moreover, from 1781 he was instated director of the Herculanense museum, and in 1787 elected member of the renowned Royal Academy of Herculaneum, roles he held until he died, in 1804, at Portici. This contribution directly follows the thread of La Vega’s progressive and increasing specialization from his professional training as architect – an architect moreover fully engaged in the planning of the post-earthquake reconstruction of Calabria Ulteriore – to that of a true archaeologist, curator of systematic works of excavation, and draftsman of the systematic recording of the archeaological finds and sites of the most fertile archeaologic deposits of Italy: from Pompei to Herculaneum to Stabia, as well as other localities of the Vesuvian area.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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