Heidi Klum and husband Tom Kaulitz talking to journalists on the red (blue) carpet at the amfAR Gala in Cannes. Cover picture of Lais Ribeiro and all photographs by Elli Ioannou for DAM in France.
On a warm, summery evening high up in the hills above the French Riviera, the amfAR gala was getting underway at the historic Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Held on the last night of the Cannes Film Festival, stars of the screen, stage and runway, gathered for the event and succeeded in raising more than $17 million, writes Isabella Lancellotti. Photography by Elli Ioannou in France
Queen Latifah hosts the amfAR Gala
in Cannes.
The award-winning American rapper, actress and singer Queen Latifah, was the charismatic host of the amfAR Gala that included a dramatic live auction, fashion show, and performances by Gladys Knight, Adam Lambert, Bebe Rexha, and Halsey.
A constellation of stars dressed in black tie attended the event from Leonardo DiCaprio, Eva Longoria, James Marsden, and Rebel Wilson to Heidi Klum, Kate Beckinsale and Orlando Bloom.
The fashion, to rival the Met Gala, ran the gamut from completely sheer gowns with cutouts showing muscled abs to long, gossamer-fine couture capes over fluid, diaphanous column dresses,
Auctioning for a Cause
The enthusiasm of the guests was on full display as they actively participated in the live auction led by auctioneer, Simon de Pury. Bidding on one-of-a-kind luxury items and contemporary art, the auction showcased the commitment to supporting amfAR's mission.
The excitement reached new heights as Eva Longoria and James Marsden joined forces with de Pury to sell the exclusive Launch Edition DB12 Aston Martin, fetching a staggering 1.5 million euros. Another remarkable moment came with the sale of a breathtaking Damien Hirst portrait of Leonardo DiCaprio, adorned with signatures from both the artist and the acclaimed actor, which was acquired for an impressive 1.2 million euros.
Fashion as a Force for Good
A highlight of the gala was the Icons Collection fashion show, curated by supporter of amfAR, Carine Roitfeld. Introduced by Ashley Graham and designer Jeremy Scott, the show featured ensembles from fashion houses around the world. On the runway there were designs by Tom Ford, Moschino, Versace, Dior, Balmain, Chanel, Prada, Givenchy, Armani, YSL, Louis Vuitton, and many more. The models, including Natasha Poly, Helena Christensen, Caroline Trentini, and Alessandra Ambrosio, took to the catwalk wearing exquisite Chopard jewels.
Adam Lambert performed at the gala,
including his hit songs.
Unforgettable Performances
While the auction garnered excitement, the night's musical performances electrified the audience. The queen of soul, Gladys Knight, arrived on stage to sing her classics, "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me" and "Midnight Train to Georgia."
Adam Lambert, renowned for his stage presence, kept the energy soaring with heartfelt renditions of "Ordinary World" and a beautiful tribute to the late Tina Turner through "Who Wants to Live Forever." Bebe Rexha took the stage, delivering a sensational set that included her chart-topping hits "In the Name of Love" and "I'm Good (Blue)."
A Night to Remember
As the evening drew to a close, Queen Latifah returned to the stage to introduce the final act, Halsey. The talented singer-songwriter delivered a captivating performance, with renditions of her hit songs, including "Graveyard," "Bad at Love," "You Should Be Sad," and "Without Me." In raising over $17 million for amfAR's HIV/AIDS research programs, the amfAR Gala Cannes showed the effectiveness of philanthropy, and collaboration.
Scroll down to see the fashion highlights on the red carpet at the amfAR Gala in Cannes
Actor Rebel Wilson wears an emerald-green Oscar de la Renta dress, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Model Cindy Bruna in a sleek, black sequined gown by David Koma, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Bebe Rexha wears a dramatic Faraz Manan gown, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini in a stylish, double-breasted Boss suit at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Belgian model Rose Bertram wearing a minimal Monot outfit, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Model Helena Christensen in a shell pink Dior haute couture gown at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Fashion iconoclast Daphne Guiness in a striking black ensemble at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath, wears a diaphanous Tony Ward couture embroidered gown, at the amfAR Cannes Gala at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Model Coco Rocha wears a sculptural Gaurav Gupta haute couture gown at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Model Isabeli Fontana in theatrical Mugler outfit at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
American model Lori Harvey in a brilliant red, cut-out LaQuan Smith gown, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Singer and actor Teyana Taylor in a Monot concoction showing her chiseled abs, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Model Alton Mason in a black tuxedo open to his waist, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Model Bianca Balti in a vivid Dolce & Gabbana gown, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Actor Eva Longoria in a transparent, figure-hugging gown by Ashi Studio, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Portuguese model Sara Sampaio in a sea green Zuhair Murad dress, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes, France.
Czech model Petra Nemcova wears British couturier Jennifer Claire's bright red dress, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Fashion designers Dean and Dan Caten in classic, elegant tuxedos, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Originally from Capo Verde, model Leila Depina, wearing an outfit inspired by Naomi Cambell's 1998 barely-there outfit, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Georgia Fowler wears a draped gown and Surrealist gold necklace by Schiaparelli, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Alessandra Ambrosio and Matheus Mazzafera. at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
American actor James Marsden, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Elsa Hosk wearing her own brand Helsa, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz, at the amfAR Cannes Gala, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap
d'Antibes, France.
African Architects Challenge Venice Exhibition to Decolonise and Start New Conversations
Ghanian-born curator of the biennale Lesley Lokko. Jacobo Salvi/La Biennale di Venezia
By Tomà Berlanda, Professor of Architecture, University of Cape Town
Presented since 1979, the Venice Architecture Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) is possibly the most influential architecture exhibition in the world. For the first time, this year’s edition is curated by an African architect, Lesley Lokko. She has ensured that a strong African presence is the central feature of the show. Indeed, the 2023 exhibition is part of an undeniable shift towards a more just representation in global architecture.
The biennale, a cultural institution established as early as 1895, is a manifestation of a world order established by European imperialism. It is an international platform for a network of powerful academic and professional groups, material producers, construction firms, developers and public authorities. They come together in Venice to show and discuss their work.
Visitors to the central exhibition, Force Majeure.Simone Padovani/Getty Images
The biennale relies heavily on private sponsors and numerous countries host their own pavilions in Venice. While an African curator has no influence over these pavilions, she has ample latitude to determine the shape of the main pavilion and its exhibitions, the Force Majeure and the Dangerous Liaisons sections.
As a professor of architecture with a scholarly focus on African cities and non-western architectural forms, I have been attending the preview week in Venice. I believe that the African presence at the event brings a much needed – and complicated – new perspective that needs to shape the future of the biennale.
Lesley Lokko and Demas Nwoko
In the very first room of this year’s show, at the entrance of the Corderie dell’Arsenale – a thin 300 metre long building where the Venetian navy produced its ropes for over seven centuries – a diffused blue light shines. It invites visitors to reflect on the notion of the blue hour, the time after sunset and before night. For Lokko the light marks a new era: “A moment between dream and awakening … a moment of hope.”
A Ghanaian-Scottish architect, educator and novelist, Lokko is the first woman of colour to curate the show. In her curatorial statement she highlights the “laboratory of the future”. Rather than a place for scientific experiments, the laboratory needs to be thought of more as a workshop. Here different practitioners can collaboratively test new forms of architecture. In the west, says Lokko, one continues to associate architects as the figures who build buildings. But they do much more, they build society, competency, knowledge, in a rapidly hybridising and interwoven world.
Demas Nwoko.Titi Ogufere/La Biennale di Venezia
Lokko subverts perspectives. She invites visitors to look at Africa not as a place where western models should be transferred to, but rather from which much can be learned.
The decision to award the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to Demas Nwoko, a Nigerian architect and artist born in 1935, is significant to Lokko’s perspective.
His relatively few buildings are cited as “forerunners of the sustainable, resource-mindful, and culturally authentic forms of expression now sweeping across the African continent – and the globe”.
An example of this is the Dominican Institute and Chapel he completed in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1975. The motifs of a Christian building are reinterpreted through an African sense of place and ornamentation.
Lokko’s approach represents a radical shift in the way the biennale operates. It is an important contribution to the creation of genuine “contact zones”: places of productive exchange between people offering different views. This replaces the old arbitrary hierarchies with a reciprocal respect for diversity.
The tower above the altar of Nwoko’s chapel in Ibadan, Nigeria.Joseph Conteh/La Biennale di Venezia
This year’s event sparked a controversy over visas being denied to African architects. A good starting point for reciprocal respect would be to make it really possible for all to participate and attend, by breaking the barriers imposed by systemic inequalities and xenophobic immigration policies.
What’s on show
Of the 89, mostly young, participants invited to this year’s show, over half of are from Africa or the diaspora. They are carefully orchestrated in the show’s two main venues, the Giardini and the Arsenale, and six sections.
In the main pavilion, where the Force Majeure exhibition sets the scene, a towering installation by Nigerian visual artist Olalekan Jeyifous epitomises the imagery of the African future. His images are powerful spatial metaphors of the relationship between architecture, communities and environment. And the need to repair the damage done by former colonial powers.
Installation by Nigeria’s Olalekan Jeyifous.Matteo de Mayda/La Biennale di Venezia
In another room, the Oral Archive by Nairobi-based collective Cave Bureau celebrates the oral tradition of passing down knowledge across generations as a way to keep humans in community with the earth. On a multimedia screen three channels overlap. They display conversations with cave-dwelling communities, sequences from the Anthropocene museum, and drawings, maps and models done across vast geological sites.
The emphasis on two of Lokko’s overarching biennale themes – decolonisation and decarbonisation – can also be found also in the long, and at times uneven, sequence at the Arsenale. Here the Dangerous Liaisons section is interwoven with the curator’s special projects titled Food, Agriculture and Climate Change; Gender and Geography; Mnemonic; and Guests from the Future.
Work by Kenya’s Cave Bureau.Matteo de Mayda/La Biennale di Venezia
Here the synthetic landscapes of Nigerian-born film producer and director Michael Uwemedimo are presented. A physical ground made of clay and contaminated by global capitalism is transported from Port Harcourt in Nigeria to Venice. It is a departure point to imagine the future, displayed through AI-generated images on the ceiling.
Congolese artist and photographer Sammy Baloji expertly deconstructs the official narration of colonial occupation, suggesting a view of architecture and the human body as traces of social history. This is done by displaying an old colonial Belgian documentary poetically interwoven with film footage taken today.
What this all means
The 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale is an important and complicated edition, with a necessary message. One can only hope that the event will continue the process of decolonisation started by Lokko after years of absence of confrontation, comparison, and exchange between different positions.
A radical rethinking of the biennale, and of the (architectural) world in general, is long overdue. We need a different future. Enter the blue hour.
The biennale opens to the public on 20 May and is on until 26 November
Tomà Berlanda, Professor of Architecture, University of Cape Town
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
A detail of The Necklace by John William Waterhouse R.A (1848~1917). One of the highlights of the Christies sale, estimate GBP 150,000 to GBP 250,000. Cover picture: Figure with Red Dog and Book (1973) by Arthur Merric Boyd, estimate GBP 40,000 to GBP 60,000. Credit: Christie's Images Ltd 2023
Christie's London sale Three Private Collections: Belgravia,
Berkshire and Guernsey, includes 300 lots with works from the 17th to 21st
century and different genres, with estimates ranging from £300 to £250,000.
Collectors and enthusiasts have the opportunity to own a piece of the past and
admire the exceptional skill and artistry of some of the most celebrated
craftsmen and artists of the time, reports Antonio Visconti
A view of the Belgravia Collection, with
a George II giltwood pier mirror,
circa 1740. Credit: Christie's Images Ltd 2023
The Belgravia section of the Christies London sale showcases a beautiful near pair of George II giltwood pier mirrors circa 1740, in the manner of William Kent (see at left). Estimated at £50,000-80,000 they are a testament
to the unrivaled skills of English furniture makers.
The display, created by Robert Kime, also includes 19th-century furniture, highlighting the Gothic
Revival, Aesthetic movement, and Arts and Crafts styles.
Featuring the works of
some of the most renowned designers and craftsmen such as William and May
Morris, Pugin, Crace, Godwin, and Liberty, the collection displays a
captivating range of decorative art.
Among these are an intricate
'Hammersmith' carpet designed by William Morris, woven by Morris & Co,
circa 1890, estimated at £70,000-100,000. An early Victorian Gothic Revival burr-walnut, sycamore, holly, boxwood, amaranth,
and marquetry octagonal center table by Crace & Co., circa 1855, after a
design by A.W.N. Pugin, is estimated at £25,000-40,000.
However, the furniture is not the only treasure in the
Belgravia collection. The Pre-Raphaelite paintings on display are a true
delight. John William Waterhouse's masterpiece, The
Necklace (see main picture above), is a highlight of the collection, estimated at £150,000-250,000. The works of Sir Samuel Luke Fildes, R.A. and Edward Reginald
Frampton, among others, offer a glimpse into the Victorian era's artistic
splendor.
Featuring the works of renowned designers such as William and May Morris, Pugin, Crace, Godwin, and Liberty, the collection displays a captivating range of decorative art
An important William De Morgan
and William Morris framed
tile panel (1876).
Credit: Christie's Images Ltd 2023
Also featured is an important William
De Morgan framed tile panel circa 1876, designed by William Morris, estimated at £20,000-30,000 (see at right).
This artwork is an excellent example of the synergy
between the Arts and Crafts movement and the Pre-Raphaelite style, both of
which were prominent during the 19th century. The Belgravia collection shows both the grandeur of English furniture and the beauty of Pre-Raphaelite art.
One of the highlights of the Berkshire part of the sale are three striking Japanese articulated dragons. The Myochin Nobumasa, dating back to the Edo Period
(18th-19th Century) is more than 42½ inches or 108cm long. This rare piece, estimated at £120,000-180,000, shows the artistry and cultural richness of Japan.
An early painting by Ben Nicholson, O.M.,
titled The Red Necklace, created between 1916 and 1919, is
estimated at £100,000-150,000 (see below). This captivating piece exemplifies
Nicholson's mastery of color and composition, capturing the essence of the era.
There are also more contemporary works, such as the digital animation piece by
Rob and Nick Carter. Titled Transforming Still Life Painting, this
three-hour continuous loop animation, executed between 2009 and 2012,
challenges the boundaries of artistic expression and blurs the lines between
the physical and the digital realm. This artwork, in an artist's
frame, is estimated to be worth £20,000-40,000.
The works show the synergy between the Arts and Crafts movement and the Pre-Raphaelite style, both of which were prominent during the 19th century
The Red Necklace (1916~1919) by
Ben Nicholson O.M.
Credit: Christie's Images Ltd 2023
There are two
chandeliers by artist Stuart Haygarth, the first, titled
Tide, is constructed from discarded plastic that washed up on the
coast, while the second, named Drop, is made from repurposed
single-use water bottles.
These installations, estimated at £10,000-15,000 each, explicate the artist's dedication to transforming waste
into objects of beauty.
Colorful textiles by Robert Kime, with exquisite craftsmanship, complement the setting, along with comfortable furniture upholstered in William Morris fabrics.
Amid this ambiance are contemporary animal sculptures, including a striking
Scops Owl by Geoffrey Dashwood.
This sculpture, signed by the artist himself,
adds a touch of whimsy to the collection and is estimated at £1,500-2,500
The Guernsey part of the sale includes a superb group of 31 paintings by
George Chinnery. The works display the artist's talent as a portrait painter and show a fascinating view of quotidian life in 19th-century India and China, and the surrounding landscapes. One of the highlights of this collection is the lively Portrait of William Jardine, estimated to be worth
£40,000-60,000. The painter masterfully
captures the personality of his subject and brings to life the sitters in his portraits.
The Guernsey collection includes a superb group of 31 paintings by George Chinnery. The works show a fascinating view of quotidian life in 19th-century India and China
A Landscape in Macau with a Herdsman along
a track by George Chinnery (174~1852).
Credit: Christie's Images Ltd 2023
An outstanding work is A
landscape in Macau with a herdsman walking along a track, (estimate £30,000-50,000) which evokes Chinnery's skill as a
landscape artist and transports us to the serene
countryside of Macau (see at right.)
The collection also includes Chinese 'export' paintings and works of art inspired by
the natural world in Asia. The exchange between East and West during this period,
highlights the cultural intersections that shaped the artistic landscape.
Dutch 17th-century paintings
by Jan Mijtens and Cornelis de Heem are displayed alongside sporting art,
including works by John Wootton, Henry and William Barraud, and Charles Towne.
These works also display the wide range of artistic styles and subjects
during the period. There are also three exquisite paintings by the Victorian
artist John Atkinson Grimshaw, with the evocative A
lane near Chester, 1881 leading the way (estimated at £70,000-100,000).
The Guernsey collection also has Georgian furniture juxtaposed with contemporary paintings.
Among the highlights is Legong Dancer, 1979 by
Balinese painter Dullah (1919-1996) estimated at £5,000-7,000 which captures traditional dance. Works by Australian artists Arthur Merric
Bloomfield Boyd (1920-1999) and Lawrence M. Daws bring an antipodean
flair to the collection. Boyd's Figure with Red Dog and Book, 1973, (estimated at £40,000-60,000), showcases the artist's distinctive style
and exploration of the human form. The collection demonstrates the diverse artistic expression spanning continents and centuries and mixing East and West with both the traditional and contemporary.
Christies is holding the sale on 25th of May, 2023 in London at 8 King Street. St James's SW1Y 6QT United Kingdom. T: +44 (0)20 7839 9060.
Archaeology: Roman temple discovered in Brittany, France thought to be dedicated to Mars could have been used to worship many gods
An artist's depiction of the temple at La Chapelle-des-Fougeretz as it would have looked in the first century AD. Marie Millet INRAP
By Tony King, University of Winchester
Archaeologists from the French research institute INRAP at the site in Brittany. Photograph: Bastien Simier
In April, archaeologists excavating at La Chapelle-des-Fougeretz, in Britanny, France, announced that they had discovered a large Roman temple, dating between the late first century BC and fourth century AD.
They speculated that it had probably been used by Roman soldiers for hundreds of years to pay homage to Mars, the god of war.
It was the discovery of a fine bronze statuette of Mars that suggested the temple may have been a shrine to the god. But the site also had clay figurines of Venus and the mother goddesses, leading to uncertainty about which deity was worshipped there.
Two buildings were at the core of the site – a square within a square, one slightly smaller than the other. This design is typical of Romano-Celtic temples (found in modern France, parts of Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire).
Scholars of ancient religion in the Celtic north west regions of the Roman Empire (of which ancient France was a major part) used to regard a double temple arrangement as a dedication to a divine pair, one male and the other female, such as Apollo and Sirona or Mercury and Rosmerta.
Excavation at the temple site in France.
Emmanuelle Collado/INRAP
The female names were usually derived from Celtic languages, while the male gods were from the classical Graeco-Roman pantheon, implying some sort of “marriage” between them and by extension, the synthesis of local culture with that of Imperial Rome.
But this theorising was a reflection of 19th and 20th century colonial thinking. Present day experts have found that ancient people chose their forms of worship, rather than having religions imposed upon them.
Ancient communities could preserve Iron Age traditions or adopt aspects of Roman classical religion. This is reflected in the archaeology of their temple sites.
Some had wooden buildings and few, if any, featured classical images of gods. Others, particularly in the towns, opted for a more full on Roman style of worship, even if the old native traditions still underpinned the rituals.
How the gods were worshipped at these temples
Looking at excavations of temples in Gaul (modern France, with parts of Belgium, Germany and Switzerland) and Britain, it is striking that the architectural form is often quite standardised.
The temples are usually in the Romano-Celtic design, with a small square central tower surrounded by a portico (a row of evenly spaced columns with a lean-to roof up against the central tower).
The sculpture, inscriptions, artefacts and sacrificial remains are, however, widely variable. They reveal the development of a highly localised suite of ritual activities that varied significantly from one temple to another.
Equally striking is their long-term stability. It seems that once established (either in the early Roman period or sometimes in the pre-conquest late Iron Age), rituals quickly settled down into patterns that continued, at some sites, for centuries.
The bronze figurine of the Roman god Mars
found at the temple. Emmanuelle Collado/INRAP
The end usually came in the late Roman period, as pagan shrines were abandoned in the face of the expansion of imperially promoted Christianity.
Mars, Venus and the mother goddesses (and possibly others not yet discovered) were probably the deities included in the rituals observed in the two shrines and the equally important open air courtyard in which the shrines stood.
It is in the courtyard that much of the public ritual, such as sacrifices, would have taken place. From this perspective, archaeologists cannot be sure that, for instance, the bigger temple was for Mars and the smaller one for the female deities. We do not know the exact purpose of the temple buildings themselves. The central cella area is usually thought to be a “house for the god”. Plinths are sometimes found within them, suitable for a statue or other cult idol.
The surrounding porticoes are secondary features, as some temples start life as a simple square structure and the portico is added later. At the site of Pesch, near Aachen in Germany, the portico of one of the two temples had altars to the Matronae goddesses (a variant on the mother goddesses). The cella, meanwhile, contained a statue of Jupiter.
It looks as though the porticoes developed as a shelter for votive offerings, up against the central shrine building.
Many gods in the sacred landscape
At many temples, a wide variety of images and god names have been found.
At Gerolstein, near Trier in Germany, there was Minerva, Venus, Mercury, Bacchus and Hercules. At Le Hérapel in the Moselle region of France, there was Sol, Luna, Mercury, Bacchus, Hercules and Epona. At the Bregenz temple site in Austria, there is an inscription to “the gods and goddesses”, showing that many deities were worshipped collectively.
In Britain, the temple at Lamyatt Beacon, Somerset, had a cache of statuettes of Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Minerva, Hercules and a Genius. Similar hoards of figurines have been found elsewhere in the province.
Mars and Venus in a wall painting from
Pompeii. ArchaiOptix CC BY
Clearly, the “poly” in polytheism meant just that – many deities, worshipped together. There may have been a main or original god or goddess at many temple sites, but there was a clear tendency to worship a range of deities, possibly accumulating new idols over time.
The broader sacred landscape adds clarity to the finds at La Chapelle-des-Fougeretz. The site is complemented by another temple at Mordelles, to the west. Both were within easy reach of the Roman city of Rennes and it is quite possible that they were linked to the town by processional or pilgrimage routes.
In the heart of Rennes itself, evidence for worship of Mars is strong. All three places may have formed the sacred landscape of the citizens, in the form of processions and seasonal festivities.
It is tempting to think of ancient religion in monotheistic terms – one temple, with one god. But the evidence from the Romano-Celtic regions of the empire suggests otherwise. It is much more genuinely polytheistic. Several deities were worshiped at most temple sites, with strong regional networks linking many gods and goddesses together.
Tony King, Professor of Roman Archaeology, University of Winchester
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
