“Il pregio delle opere antiche è il disegno e non già il colorito.” Ovvero, della scartata ipotesi di illustrare a colori

Between the end of 1762 and the first months of the following year, the Neapolitan academicians considered the hypothesis of printing in colour the plates illustrating the Antichità di Ercolano esposte, but after a quick feasibility study, the project was shelved. Tracing the stages through which this decision was reached – in an exchange of correspondence that involved mainly Paris, but also Rome and inevitably Madrid – allows us to understand not only the impact of economic and organisational issues, but also how the final choice reflected one of the possible ways of looking at ancient painting, also allowing us to compare the results with those of almost contemporary publishing initiatives, characterised by the choice to offer illustrations in colour: Two alternative ways of looking at reproductions and their status - as a copy, rather than a translation - emerge from this, hinting at requirements that would assert themselves a few years later, as a result of neoclassical aesthetics.