[4] In 1816 Pius VII, on the recommendation of Cardinal Consalvi, gave official recognition to the Accademia Romana di Archeologia and the academy became an important international centre of archaeological study.
Its foreign members and lecturers included Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Johan David Åkerblad, Bertel Thorvaldsen, as well as sovereigns Frederick William IV of Prussia and Charles Albert of Sardinia.
[1] In 1833 an attempt was made to remove the tomb of Raphael, but the Academy protested to Pope Gregory XVI and was successful.
It succeeded in obtaining from Pope Pius IX a decree for the demolition of the houses on the left side of the Pantheon; it also protested against the digging of new holes in the walls.
The seal of the Academy represents the ruins of a classical temple, with the motto "In apricum proferet" - "It will bring to light.