Meet the ancient goddess of the Seine: Sequana

The only surviving personification of Sequana is immortalized in a first-century bronze statue, a jewel of the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Dijon. Discovered with a statue of a fawn near the source of the Seine in 1933, the crowned goddess in a flowing robe stands astride a boat, the prow of which has been fashioned into the head of a duck or swan. “She is young, with large eyes and refined features, and carries a look of anticipation,” writes author Elaine Sciolino in The Seine: the river that made Paris. Apparently, the statue was first created as a goddess of abundance, then dismantled to insert a boat atop the pedestal. The cornucopia was removed from her hands, and voila! A skilled Gallo-Roman craftsman invoked the deity. The boat is what defines Sequana, the water bird often referred to as the protective animal of children and family. In the ruins of a Gallo-Roman necropolis near Port-Royal in Paris, archaeologists have found children’s toys and talismans of similar shape.

The ancient gestures of pilgrims at the source of the Seine inspire artist and filmmaker Yan Tomaszewski. His recent project revolves around contemporary ex-votos: a series of sculptures wrapped in cotton containing activated charcoal. As part of an artistic ceremonial procession, they were immersed in the river for several weeks. “Like the charcoal sticks that are put in carafes to purify water and make it drinkable, the charcoal absorbs pollutants and impurities,” he explains. “The idea is that these sculptures heal the river in a way that is both concrete and symbolic.” The pollution-saturated charcoal was then sent to a scientific laboratory for pollution analysis, and the sculptures have been featured in various museum exhibitions, one of which is now on display in the archaeological crypt on the Île de la Cité.

Tomaszewski’s small-scale initiative, inspired by a centuries-old ritual from Sequana that is loaded with symbolism, echoes the colossal Seine cleanup project that aims to make the Seine swimmable again for the Olympics. “The idea is to give,” he says. “A gift for a gift.”

(Learn more about the $1.5 billion projectto clean the Seine.)