Unknown (Gallo-Roman)
Pillar of the Boatmen
1st century AD
The 'Pillar of the Boatmen' (Pilier des nautes), an early 1st-century AD Gallo-Roman votive column dedicated to the Emperor Tiberius by the guild of river traders (nautae parisiaci) on the Seine, is the oldest surviving monument of Paris. Its four carved sides juxtapose Roman deities (Jupiter, Vulcan, Castor, Pollux) with Celtic gods (Cernunnos, Smertrios, Esus), making the column a vivid document of Gallo-Roman religious syncretism. Rediscovered in the 18th century beneath the choir of Notre-Dame cathedral, it is today a centrepiece of the Musée de Cluny in Paris.
Exhibition Venue
Image source: Wikimedia Commons