This Freemasonry Art Is Riddled With Symbolism - Try Finding Some

Are you familiar with the fascinating portraits of glamorous women or femme fatales by Bohemian artist Alphonse Mucha in 19th century Paris? Do you know that Alphonse Mucha was the father of the Art Nouveau period?

If not, keep reading.

Art Nouveau was a period that began around the 1880s when visually decorative art styles and pastels became popular amongst the artists.

Mucha adopted this art category, poured his creativity, and voila, his trademark style was born - gorgeous women with sensual looks, long hair tendrils and an intense gaze posed against the colorful pastels and botanical backdrops.

Mucha's artistic career took a 360 degree turn when he met the popular French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt. When Sarah commissioned Mucha to design a poster for Gismonda, a Greek melodrama, he sealed the deal.

The poster was larger than life portrayal of Sarah with an exquisite embroidered gown, floral stole and a dramatic orchid headdress. The rainbow-shaped arch behind her head, almost like a halo, endorsed divinity.

This poster created a sensation in the Paris art group and became pivotal in Mucha's career. Later, he was offered a plethora of well-known advertisements and illustration projects.

Mucha's women had ethereal charms and communicated the desirability of a product, for example, a cigarette.

But there came a time when Mucha was dissatisfied with these commercial commissions and longed for a project with a more elevated mission.

This 'spiritual epiphany' became the next pivotal moment in his career and Le Pater was born.

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Le Pater - Mucha's symbolist masterpiece

Mucha was inspired by Paris's spiritual climate and two years before Le Pater's launch, he joined the Paris masonic group.

Le Pater was an illustrated edition of The Lord's Prayer. This book is filled with mysticism and masonic symbolism.

The cover page represents a sensual woman. A feminine deity. But hey, wait. If we look closely around the collar bones and arms, it looks masculine. So, is it an androgynous deity?

The symbols at the extreme left are all masonic symbols. Here are the ones I could identify. (Let me know in the comments if you could identify others)

Eye of Providence - that depicts an eye enclosed in a triangle. It is surrounded by the rays of light, meant to represent divine providence, whereby the eye of God watches over humanity.

Serpent - it is the symbol of the Universal Savior who redeems the world by giving creation the knowledge of itself [the doctrine of self-awareness for man's divinity] and the realization of good and evil.

As we flip through the pages of Le Pater, a feminine deity tries to protect humankind.

The thought of a woman protecting mankind in itself is surreal. Isn't it?

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Lastly

Mucha freemasonry was an outcome of his spiritualism - the pursuit of deeper truth beyond the visible world. Mucha believed that three virtues - Beauty, Truth and Love are the cornerstones of humanity. He felt his art was a medium to contribute towards the improvement and progress of mankind.

He shunned commercial art and his artwork Le Pater became a symbolist masterpiece.

The female deity protecting humankind and envisioning God beyond gender made Mucha's Le Pater a masterpiece. This illustrative book became a cornerstone to teach humanity and deeper truth beyond the visible world.

Mucha's representation of God as feminine and androgynous showed his progressive mindset.

Mucha's envisioned God beyond gender.

Le Pater is regarded to be Mucha's finest work.

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References-

1. Le Pater: Alphonse Mucha's Symbolist Masterpiece and the Lineage of Mysticism

2. Le Pater

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