Pompeii vexes board with appointment of German director

Archaeologist Gabriel Zuchtriegel takes controversy in his stride as he develops programme for site

Gabriel Zuchtriegel is used to ruffling a few feathers. In 2015, the German archaeologist was hired to manage Paestum, a vast park of ancient Greek ruins in the southern Italian region of Campania. He was among the first crop of foreigners picked to direct an Italian museum or cultural site as part of what was a contentious drive to revamp the management of the country’s heritage. Not only was he foreign but he was the youngest person in charge of a major site.

Six years on, Zuchtriegel, now 39, provoked a fresh quarrel last week after being appointed director of one of the world’s most treasured archaeological sites: Pompeii. Within hours, two of the park’s board members resigned, with one of them telling the press that Zuchtriegel – who was credited by the culture minister, Dario Franceschini, for having done an “incredible job” at Paestum – didn’t have enough experience to take the helm at Pompeii.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3bHdRpN