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The Roman Bather
The Roman Bather
A Roman work of art in the Bijland

The different parts of the work of art
© Blok-Lugthart
Photo 4/4
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In the summer of 2021, the Lower Germanic Limes with all its locations in the Netherlands was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Herwen and the Bijland also became a world heritage site in one fell swoop. That deserves to be celebrated. The municipality has taken the initiative to visualize the Roman presence. An impressive work of art will soon appear at the Bijland recreational lake that will remind passers-by of the Roman history of the area.
Roman Limes World Heritage
Before the Lower Germanic Limes (and the associated Bijland) were declared a world heritage site, the former municipality of Rijnwaarden and later the municipality of Zevenaar wanted to make Roman history in the region more visible. In an extensive collaborative project, in which local residents, entrepreneurs and organizations such as Erfgoed Gelderland, RomanNU and the Liemers Museum participated, ideas were put on paper on how this past could best be brought to attention. In addition to various walking routes and new signage, the wish was also expressed to collaborate with artists. A large-scale representation will be created in the Bijland, a true 'eye-catcher'. To achieve this, visual artists Maree Blok and Bas Lugthart were asked to create a special work of art for this place.
Bather of the Bijland
The 10-metre large work of art 'The Roman Bather' will be placed on the sand point near Herwen in the Bijland recreational lake. This large lake, which was created by sand extraction, connects to the Rhine and is located near the point where the Rhine and Waal rivers probably split in Roman times. At that time, on the site of the Bijland there was a Roman castellum (fort) called Carvium, from which the banks of both rivers were controlled. Many Roman finds emerged in the Bijland, especially in the period 1925-1963. In Roman times, the Rhine formed the northern border of the Roman Empire: the Lower Germanic Limes. The Romans were experienced hydraulic engineers and to allow more water to flow into the Rhine, they built a dam at the spot where the Rhine and Waal split, better known as the Drusus Dam.
Yet in Roman times, and later also in the Middle Ages and the Modern Era, people had only limited control over the course of the meandering rivers in the area. For example, the first village called Herwen was washed away in 1764 by the (Oude) Waal, which pushed to the north. Herwen had to be rebuilt, but this time further away from the Waal, in a safe place behind the dike.
The large sculpture is shaped after the classical Roman statues of bathing water nymphs that in mythology symbolize and give life to lakes and rivers. The Roman Bather is approximately 10 meters high and is visible from the waist down on the beach of the point at Herwen. In the summer at low tide, the Roman Bather stands on the shore of the lake among the bathers staying on the beach.
Rising water
As the water rises in autumn and winter, the bather will become increasingly surrounded by the water. At the highest level of more than 16 meters above NAP, her head is just above water. The work of art The Roman Bather thus interacts with the environment and the people of today, but also depicts the stories of the river, people and the landscape from history, which are still so clearly visible in this area. The bather, whose upper body is only half visible, makes you curious about what is still hidden in the earth from the centuries-long presence of the Romans in this place, many objects of which have already been found during sand extraction. In addition to the mystery of the archaeological finds, The Roman Bather is also a representation of the village of Herwen swallowed up by the river and a folk tale told in the Liemers. This legend is said to be about the river dividing into several streams in search of his beloved Rhine.
The strands of hair surrounding the face depict the course of the great rivers that formed the northern border of the Roman Empire at the beginning of the common era. The Roman names of the Rhine (Rhenus), the Waal (Vahalis), the Vecht (Latin name unknown) and the IJssel (Isala) are engraved in the strands of the hair.