Pompeii, big controversy over Zuchtriegel's appointment, with resignation on scientific committee

Not even a day has passed since the appointment of Gabriel Zuchtriegel as the new director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and a fierce controversy has immediately flared up, leading to the resignation, already on Saturday, of two important members of the Park’s scientific committee (out of the four that make it up), Stefano De Caro and Irene Bragantini. To justify their resignations, the two wrote a letter to the acting director, Massimo Osanna, which reads, in excerpts reported by Ansa: “With irrevocable decision and immediate effect, we have decided to resign. With deep disappointment, we believe that the minimum conditions for collaborating with his successor do not exist.”

Bragantini and De Caro are two influential figures in Roman archaeology. Bragantini, a native of Verona, born in 1948, has participated in excavation missions in Italy and abroad (in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Turkey) and has worked as an archaeologist for MiBACT since 1981, not to mention his work as a longtime lecturer at the University of Naples l’Orientale. Stefano De Caro, born in 1951, directed the Pompeii Excavation Office for several years and was also director general of archaeological heritage at MiBACT. Irene Bragantini preferred not to speak to the press, but De Caro, on the other hand, made several statements. Basically, the archaeologist believes that Zuchtriegel does not have the necessary credentials to lead Pompeii.

Zuchtriegel was born in 1981, and he is currently the youngest director of an Italian state museum: in 2015, when he was appointed director of the Paestum Archaeological Park, he was only thirty-four years old (a decidedly unusual fact in Italy to direct a major national museum so young, which is why his appointment was greeted positively by many): before coming to Paestum he had been a fellow at the German Archaeological Institute and the Humboldt Foundation, had been a researcher at the University of Basilicata, and had previously taught in Bonn, Matera, Naples (at the Federico II), and Palermo. He had also served as a member of the Technical Planning Secretariat of the Pompeii Grand Project.

An insufficient resume to lead Pompeii, according to De Caro. “The new director Zuchtriegel,” he told the LaPresse news agency, “is very exalted for his activity in the Paestum park, but it seems to us that in Pompeii he has not had all that much experience: his resume shows 8 months at the park secretariat, but in 8 months you can’t get an idea about the millennia of history of Pompeii.” Moreover, De Caro again reports to LaPresse, “the requirements on the basis of which the evaluations that led to today’s appointment were made are not clear.” And again, speaking to Corriere della Sera, De Caro said that in his view it is difficult for Zuchtriegel “to have sufficient experience to decide, manage and direct conservation and especially restoration, where it is very easy to make mistakes but commit millions and millions. The committee will have evaluated the curriculum but we don’t know the criteria. We prefer to take a step back rather than open a chapter of controversy.”

Saturday afternoon also saw the retort of Massimo Osanna: “Frankly, I don’t understand the controversy,” he said. “Zuchtriegel has an excellent scientific curriculum, in Paestum he has done very well and in Pompeii he will ensure a management of the site in full continuity with what I have done in recent years for the great project; the fact that Zuchtriegel is just 40 years old I don’t think can be a reason not to consider him up to the mark. On the contrary, I think it is a value and a great sign of openness to new generations.”

Pompeii, big controversy over Zuchtriegel's appointment, with resignation on scientific committee

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