Beneath the streets of the small town of Portici on the Gulf of Naples, engineers commissioned by King Charles of Naples and Sicily had been exploring the ruins of the ancient city of Herculaneum since 1738. Newspapers across Europe regularly reported on the spectacular finds. This volume intertwines the history of early archaeology on the Gulf of Naples with the enthusiasm for antiquity at the court of the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel. This is illustrated by the life of the scholar Simon Louis du Ry (1726-1799). Landgrave Wilhelm VIII of Hesse-Kassel sent the architect Du Ry to Italy for training, where he was also to visit Naples and the underground excavations. His letters about his experiences in the dark tunnels are an important source on the beginnings of archaeology in the Gulf of Naples. Du Ry also provides a detailed description of the famous Herculanense Museum in the Royal Palace of Portici. Back in Kassel, Simon Louis du Ry after a second trip to Italy with Landgrave Frederick II created the Museum Fridericianum, which opened in 1779.
