“How to observe architecture”. Napoli, le Antiquities e i primi anni di vita del Royal Institute of British Architects

In 1835, about a year after its establishment, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) published a booklet entitled Questions upon various subjects connected with Architecture with the purpose of gaining accreditation from the most prestigious European academies. One of the main questions that the RIBA brought to the attention of a wide audience of savants related to the technical and artistic problems connected to the practices of study and historical-critical restitution of the physical remains of the ancient Serapeum of Pozzuoli, which was considered one of the most enigmatic archaeological emergencies of the ancient Mediterranean. Considering the centrality that the Phlegraean archaeological heritage assumed in the context of the first international editorial experience promoted by RIBA, the study investigates the important role of key institutions and figures. These include the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples, which edited the only Italian version of the Questions, and some of the most authoritative protagonists of Neapolitan architectural culture, such as Stefano Gasse and Antonio Niccolini, directly involved in the initiative through the network of relationships built by Thomas Leverton Donaldson and John Goldicutt, principal founders of the RIBA.