«Sotto il Cielo Greco». Johann Joachim Winckelmann nel Regno di Napoli

In his short and tormented life J.J. Winckelmann visited four times the Reign of Naples. Which motivation did push him to these travels? Of course his interest for the discovery of Ercolano and Pompei sites; but not only! As he confessed to his closest friends, he was pushed by his desire of fame and glory, his secret wish to become a member of the Academia Ercolanese. The welcome of the court was disappointing indeed, the relationships with the Neapolitan students were difficult. Also the impact with the city was not happy at the beginning. Nevertheless from the reading of his letters we see that Winckelmann later changed his first negative judgements. The reign of Naples with the vesuvian discoveries, the traces of the Magna Greece and Sicily let him acquire that science he poured in his most famous works. To his scientific production his biography is linked. In Naples, more than anywhere else, among intrigues and conflicts, friends and passions, the image of the man emerges on the student.