In 1738, Charles of Bourbon (Charles VVI), King of the Two Sicilies and founder of the House of Bourbon, hired Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre and Karl Jakob Weber to work at the sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Bourbon was in Campania to establish a new base of power at Naples, and having loads of ancient art work from a region was (still is) considered a symbol of control over that region.
The Bourbon excavations were one of the first state-sponsored archaeological investigations. The plan was for any unearthed antiquities to be conserved and held at the royal court of Naples; and indeed the artifacts from Pompeii are found in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Although the excavation techniques were far from modern standards, Weber's careful drawings of the ruins are wonderful.
Charles of Bourbon is also known for his palace, the Palazzo Reale in Caserta.
Sources
Özgenel L. 2008. A tale of two cities: In search for ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum. METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture 2008:1-25. Free download
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
