The oppidum (or major settlement) of Alesia—situated on the heights of the commune of Alise-Sainte-Reine, 40 miles northwest of Dijon—has been the subject of nearly uninterrupted archeological digs since the mid-19th century and has unearthed tangible proof that as indeed the site of the ultimate battle fought by a coalition of Celtic tribes to liberate Gaul from the Roman conquest of the vast territory beyond the northeastern side of the Alps.

The oppodium of Alesia continued to exist as a town until well after the Roman conquest before finally being abandoned in the 5th century, so archeological digs have brought forth artifacts throughout the Gallo-Roman period. Nevertheless, it is the site’s evidence of the siege of 52 B.C. and the defeat of Vercingetorix that are the great treasure of this vast archeological site.

Vercingetorix, an Averni chieftan at the head of a disparate coalition of 80,000 Gaulish warriors, fell back to Alesia as the Romans under Julius Caesar closed in. Caught in a vice of Roman camps, including 10 to 12 legions of 4,500 men each, supported a Germanic cavalry, Vercingetorix awaited reinforcements that would arrive too late and too few. He chose to surrender in order to save his men, as is told to us in Caesar’s own first-hand testimony in his “Commentaries on the Gallic War” (Commentarii de Bello Gallico).

The Siege of Alesia probably lasted two months beginning at the end of August, leaving archeologists to uncover miles of fortifications along with hundreds of pieces of Gaulish money that help identify those involved in the battle and a fantastic military arsenal including helmets, shields, swords, daggers, catapult balls, etc.

Though the digs carried out during the reign of Napoleon III (1872-1870) were long discredited because they were carried out to satisfy the emperor’s own passion for history and archeology, their documentary value is of utmost importance. Research undertaken since 1905 and accelerated since 1990 with the help of aerial photography has revealed the outline of double fortifications constructed around the oppidum by Julius Caesar. This evidence confirms that the Battle of Alesia did indeed take place in Burgundy on Mount Auxois, thereby dismissing the arguments of other claimants, in particular Alaise in the region of Franche-Comté to the east of Burgundy. Nevertheless, more than two thousand years after the battle, the site has yet to reveal all of its secrets.

Until 2011, only the colossal and fanciful statue of Vercingetorix made of copper sheet by Aimé Millet and erected in 1865 stood as an emblem at the site.

But now, since spring 2012, the MuséoParc Alésia allows visitors to dive into the heart of the battle.

The museum-park consists of a reconstitution of Roman fortifications—where reenactments and activities for all ages take place—and an “interpretation center,” a vast circular building representing the encircling of the Gauls by the Romans. The center, designed by the architect Bernard Tschumi, is a notable building of glass and concrete covered with a wooden “hairnet” (unfortunately, it misses the mark on sound insulation).

It houses a circuit outlining the historical context, the profiles of the two protagonists and the main stages in the battle. Visitors also discover remnants of the Gallo-Roman presence in the area, including clothing accessories, fibulae (brooches) of iron and bronze, pieces of helmets, shoe nails, amphorae, grindstones, horse bones, a rare fragment of a Roman goatskin tent, and other items.

A wider and more detailed view of the Gallo-Roman era will be on display when the Archeological Museum opens nearby in 2016.

© 2012, Catherine Rigollet. Translation and adaptation by Gary Lee Kraut

MuséoParc Alésia – 21150 Alise-Sainte-Reine. Tel. 03 80 96 96 23. See website for opening times and entrance fees.

The Laumes-Alésia train station is just a mile from the MuseoParc Alésia, but you’ll likely want a car to also Alesia along with other sites in the area. Bikers who don’t mind a few hills will also enjoy pedaling through this area within a radius of 8 miles in any direction.

Visitors can continue to follow in the footsteps of Gauls and Romans at three other sites in Burgundy:

– The Châtillon-sur-Seine Museum,  whose centerpiece is the Treaure of Vix, found in a Celtic tomb;

– The archeological site and museum of Bibracte;

– Roman remnants at Autun, a town founded during the reign of Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum.

Catherine Rigollet is the founding editor of L’Agora des Arts, a website dedicated to the arts. As a journalist she worked for Le Point, L’Express, Le Figaro Eco and the Les Echos group before taking over the culture and exhibitions section of Air France Magazine. She is the author of a dozen books about art, history, heritage and social issues including Les Conquérantes (Nil Editions, 1996) and Les Francs Maçons (JC Lattès 1989).

This article first appeared in French in L’Agora des Arts (specifically this page) and has been translated and adapted, with permission, for France Revisited by Gary Lee Kraut.

The post Alesia: Investigating the Roman Conquest of Gaul in Burgundy appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Perhaps too much, for speaking of Dali in those terms has a tendency to mask the fact that he was the last giant of the history of 20th-century art, an equal to Picasso, and that this surrealist who swore by the Renaissance and often dug into the repertory of old master put all of his theatricality, heresy and provocation into his work as a painter.

More than 30 years after the extraordinary Salvador Dali retrospective of 1979-1980 at the Pompidou Center in Paris, when Dali (1904-1989) was alive but in ill health, Dali is back in an impressive retrospective running through March 25, 2013. The show examines his life, warts and all, and once again shines light on the power and the originality of his art, an art of technical perfection that culminated between 1925 and 1950, with a major boost coming in 1929 when he met Gala.

The exhibition opens with Dali in an Egg, a large photograph by Philippe Halsman that superbly translates the Catalan artist’s fascination with this symbol of intrauterine life and rebirth (renaissance). The egg is omnipresent in Dali’s work and it stands atop his home at Port Lligat and is repeated on the roof of his Theater-Museum in Figueres.

Among the 120 paintings in the retrospective are a number of works that are rarely shown in public along with many famous painting, including masterpieces from the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid and The Persistence of Memory (1931), also known as Soft Watches, the small painting on loan from New York’s Museum of Modern Art that is so emblematic of Dali’s universe.

His method of “critical paranoia” is highlighted in the show, presented in such a way as to enable several levels of reading an image, as in his famous interpretation of Jean-François Millet’s painting The Angelus, which Dali returned to obsessively.

A wealth of drawings, objects, films and audio also contribute to a successful staging of the retrospective which includes kiosks and various theatrics (Face of Mae West Which May Be Used as an Apartment, with the possibility for visitors to actually sit on her couch-lips). Dali’s interest in performances and black-humor happenings is revealed, as when he plays a harpsichord in which a cat meows each time a key is pressed.

The retrospective examines at length the artist’s last twenty years of work, which are often disparaged. During that time Dali experimented with new approaches, for example pop art and action painting, which demonstrate his openness to the contemporary world even if the result isn’t convincing. He then returned to the old masters before finding inspiration in the mathematical theory of catastrophes. The genius had disappeared long before the end of the story.

Since Dali’s death in 1989, his abundant production has led to copies by forgers and reproductions on millions of posters and has served as a library of images and ideas for numerous artists: from Jeff Koons to Matthew Barney by way of Piotr Uklanski. Altogether these uses have troubled and even tarnished Dali’s image, leading me to give one piece of advice: Don’t miss this retrospective.

Dali Retrospective at the Pompidou Center, November 21, 2012 to March 25, 2013. The Pompidou Center is open daily except Tuesday 11am to 9pm. www.centrepompidou.fr. Entrance to the museum’s collections and exhibitions: 13€.

Catherine Rigollet is the founding editor of L’Agora des Arts, www.lagoradesarts.fr, a website dedicated to the arts. As a journalist she worked for Le Point, L’Express, Le Figaro Eco and the Les Echos group before taking over the culture and exhibitions section of Air France Magazine. She is the author of a dozen books about art, history, heritage and social issues including Les Conquérantes (Nil Editions, 1996) and Les Francs Maçons (JC Lattès 1989).

This article first appeared in French © Catherine Rigollet in L’Agora des Arts (see original article here) and has been translated and adapted, with permission, for France Revisited by Gary Lee Kraut.

The post Dali Retropective at the Pompidou Center appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.