L’organizzazione della tutela in Sicilia. I restauri dei templi di Girgenti (1788-1838): orientamenti culturali e metodologie d’intervento nell’integrazione dell’antico

The paper proposes a review of the organization of Conservation in Sicily before Italian unification, with a particular focus on Agrigento where is well certified an advanced practice on monument integration for the historical period, as testified by both iconographic sources and archive documents. As is well-known, since the second half of the eighteenth century, Sicily has become a destination strongly sought after by Europe's travelers, like Greece and Asia Minor. In Agrigento integration of Ancient monuments, was organized by the so-called Antiquity Plans (Plani) and was realized between romantic expressions and more philological approaches, In accordance with the criteria of authenticity. However, once the system of “Regi Custodi” has been dismantled, thanks to the tenacious character of the Duke of Serradifalco, archaeological research in Sicily obtained significant results, but not always at those results corresponded adequate conservative choices. Over time, in fact, the desire to reconstruct the image of ancient monuments overwhelmed the characters of origin, creating real pastiches, as in the well-known case of the Dioscuri temple.