Vestiges (32)

Relics of Brittany's past

In 1903, at the height of tensions before the official rupture of church and state in France, Republicans placed this statue of philosopher Ernest Renan, backed by Athena, goddess of reason, outside the cathedral in Tréguier. It was a deliberately provocative move: local boy Renan’s Life of Jesus (1863) had aroused worldwide hostility from the Catholic church, the Pope claiming the author had ‘betrayed God’. On the day of the statue’s inauguration, huge crowds attended and there was an armed guard stand-off between the rival groups in pouring rain, as political luminaries, including the President of the Republic, made speeches, while believers worshipped loudly in the cathedral. Catholics later erected a huge calvaire on the quayside in response.

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