From Alesia to Rome: The archaeological adventure of Napoleon III Musée d Archéologie Nationale, Saint-Germain-en-Laye 19 SEPTEMBER 2020 03 JANUARY 2021 Over the course of the 19th century, archaeology be- came a key element in new political and scientific chal- lenges. European states competed to increase their knowledge of lost cultures and build their national iden- tity. Meanwhile, excavation sites were opened, requiring new techniques and innovative tools. Emblematic of this dual movement, the archaeological digs opened at the instigation of Napoleon III took a very different approach to those run by the antiquarians of the previous century. Inextricably linked to the figure of the emperor, they represented an epic archaeological story played out across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, in Greece, Italy and the East.
In 1861, Napoleon III purchased the Farnese Gardens on Palatine Hill in Rome. This made him the symbolic owner of what was known as the Palace of the Caesars , and he ordered archaeological excavations to begin, led by Pietro Rosa (1810- 1891). Images, photographs, reports and stamps from both France and Italy,now dispersed, attest to the intense activity that paved the way for sci- entific archaeology The exhibition set out to retrace the history of a genuine archaeological adventure recounted in the works and documents housed in various institutions. By reu- niting this corpus, the exhibition seeks to go back over the story of the excavations instigated by Napoleon III in the footsteps of the Caesars, while exploring the role of photography and the new recording methods used in this archaeological campaign.
84