Towards a Modern Culture of Antiquity in a Multidisciplinary Perspective Architect Antonio Niccolini (1772–1850) and the Temple of Serapis in Pozzuoli, Italy

Abstract

This research seeks to highlight a moment in the evolution of the culture of the Antiquity in the 19th century throughout the experience of the architect Antonio Niccolini with the Temple of Serapis in the town of Pozzuoli, Italy. This ancient site dating back to the Flavian Age turned out to be a complex but also stimulating case study for many distinguished European scholars given its historical and geological singularities. Among them was Antonio Niccolini, one of the most influential architects of the Bourbon Kingdom, working in Naples from 1807 to 1850. He will engage this line of research bringing an avant-garde concept regarding the approach to the knowledge of Antiquity and the preservation of ancient sites.