Sacred Art & Iconography
Pillar of the Boatmen
artwork
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A limestone pillar raised in Lutetia, the Gallo-Roman settlement that became Paris, during the reign of Tiberius, dedicated by the local guild of river boatmen. Standing over five meters, it carried sixteen carved panels naming Roman and Celtic deities side by side, an early and rare instance of the two religious worlds sharing one monument. Its dedication honors Jupiter, Optimus Maximus, alongside the emperor, and one panel bears the only undisputed surviving written attestation of the Celtic god Cernunnos, shown as a horned bust with torques hanging beside him. Other panels name Vulcan, Esus and the bull god Tarvos Trigaranus. The pillar was broken up and reused as building stone in antiquity; its blocks came to light in 1710 during excavation beneath the choir of Notre-Dame Cathedral and were first published in 1712. The surviving fragments are displayed today at the Musee de Cluny, the Musee national du Moyen Age, on the site of a Roman-era bath complex.
Facts
Origins
CreationSourced to the subject's own account Date of CreationSourced to the subject's own accountReign of Tiberius, 14 to 37 CE 2 Commissioned BySourced to the subject's own accountThe guild of boatmen (nautae parisiaci) of Lutetia 1 Subject Matter
Depicted SubjectSourced to the subject's own accountRoman and Celtic deities carved side by side: Jupiter named in the pillar's own dedication, and Cernunnos shown as a horned bust, the only surviving inscription that names him. 1 Rights and Reproduction
Reproduction and CopyrightSourced to the subject's own accountThe pillar itself is nearly two thousand years old and carries no copyright, but a specific modern photograph of it carries its own separate copyright. This atlas describes and cites the work rather than reproducing an image of it. 2 Physical Form
MediumSourced to the subject's own account DimensionsSourced to the subject's own accountOriginal height about 5.24 meters, base width 91 cm, top width 74 cm 2 Custody
Current LocationSourced to the subject's own accountMusee de Cluny (Musee national du Moyen Age), Paris 2 Current CustodianSourced to the subject's own accountMusee de Cluny, Musee national du Moyen Age 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Vulcan directly: "Other panels name Vulcan, Esus and the bull god Tarvos Trigaranus."
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