Francesco La Vega

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Francesco La Vega (born June 25, 1737 in Rome , † December 24, 1804 in Portici ) was a Spanish archaeologist and one of the early excavators of Pompeii .

Pietro Fabris: Excavation of the Temple of Isis in Pompeii. Idealized representation of the excavations

Like his predecessor Rocque Joaquín de Alcubierre, Francesco La Vega was a Spanish engineer and a very educated man. As the successor of the Swiss Karl Weber , La Vega was de Alcubierre's assistant from 1764 (other information says from 1765), and after his death in 1780 he was the unrestricted excavation manager in Pompeii. Under his direction the Odeon , the theater , Isis temple , the Forum Triangolare including the buildings, the theater porticus including the gladiator barracks, the Samnite palaestra , the Villa of Diomedes and other buildings in this area were excavated. La Vega kept a very precise excavation diary, which still helps today in the reconstruction of some lost findings. As he was an excellent draftsman, he also drew up a first plan, which, although imprecise overall, was very detailed. After all, La Vega was also the first to recognize that Pompeii could be of interest to visitors and was responsible for the first larger groups of visitors to the excavation site.

Many of the La Vegas excavation methods were contemporary, but seem very brutal today. Walls were torn down and no consideration was given to finds that did not appear to be valuable. On the other hand, he was the first archaeologist who carefully kept an excavation diary and was the first to pay attention to non-artistic finds such as wine and butter presses and to interpret them correctly. Houses that were excavated were often filled in again. Francesco La Vega led the excavations in Pompeii until 1797. After an interlude by Christoph Saliceti, he was followed in 1804 by his brother Pietro la Vega as excavation director of Pompeii.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on Francesco La Vega in the database of the Bibliothèque nationale de France .
personal data
SURNAME La Vega, Francesco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 25, 1737
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH December 24, 1804
Place of death Portici