Poussin’s Mountainous Mystery Part 2
The revelation begged the question: when placed next to
Triumph of Pan, did
Triumph of Bacchus match up? The answer is yes, and no. The background that appears in
Triumph of Bacchus does not match up with
Triumph of Pan like the others obviously do, but in the foreground of the painting they do match up quite well.
Triumph of Pan alongside Triumph of Bacchus
Close-up of foregrounds matching up
There are yet other connections, including a character from Poussin’s earlier Shepherds of Arcadia (1629) painting.
Nicolas Poussin,
Shepherds of Arcadia, The Duke of Devonshire and
the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees, Chatsworth
Similar characters in Triumph of Pan and Shepherds of Arcadia (1629)
One of the clearest symbols in the connected paintings is the dove above the mountain in both
Arcadia and
Triumph of Pan. Looking back at the mountain comparison pictures, one can see the shape of a dove in the outline of the clouds in
Arcadia and an actual dove in
Sacrament of Baptism, and what is believed to be Hercules riding across the sky on a chariot drawn by horses stolen from Apollo
[3] in
Triumph of Bacchus. All these images seem to draw attention to this specific mountain. With the dove being a worldwide symbol for peace, is it possible that the dove is the connection to the word ‘peace’ being placed into the riddle; and the horses Hercules is riding may refer to the ‘horse of God’ from the Rennes-le-Château parchments? Although speculative, the possibility is intriguing.
The question then becomes: why would Poussin return to a theme seven years after he had created his original paintings? I believe the answer is that Poussin feared that the original dove in
Arcadia was not readily apparent and that by going back and repainting the landscape with a real dove he would draw more attention to it. What does the dove mean, what could it represent, and why did Poussin go to so much trouble to make sure that its symbolism was not lost?
I believe that Poussin interwove many complex connections into several paintings that, until now, have not been connected. If Fouquet’s letter is indeed true, and Poussin did possess knowledge that was more valuable than any treasure on earth, would he have let that secret die with him, or would he have ensured that the information would be passed on to those who knew how to find it? It is also certain that if Poussin returned to paint the
Sacrament of Baptism to encode his message in a different and easier to find way, at least part of the message would be preserved.
A further question remains regarding the fate of the
Triumph of Silenus. If only a copy of the original exists, what was held in the third work that was commissioned for Cardinal Richelieu; and how important is it to the discovery of the secret that Poussin concealed? Why were they painted for Cardinal Richelieu? Why give two of the four works that comprise the complete landscape to Richelieu (and possibly another, if the
Triumph of Silenus is connected) if the secret was to be known by only one person? Was it Poussin’s intention that Richelieu be the one to discover his secret, or were there other reasons for the placement of these paintings? A possible explanation lies in the connection that Poussin’s landscape may have with other artists’ paintings; most prominently, David Teniers, the other artist mentioned in Saunière’s parchments. A verifiable link between the two painters has never been proven, except for their mention in the priest’s parchments. However, it is the discovery of Poussin’s hidden landscape that creates a ground-breaking connection between two seemingly unrelated painters.
We now return to the riddle and ask: if finding this landscape proves that Saunière’s decoded parchment is indeed a valid resource for unravelling the Rennes-le-Château mystery, then the other elements need to be examined with equal merit. Operating on the belief that the word ‘shepherdess’ points to
Arcadia as being significant (as well as the five other paintings), then the words ‘no temptation’ could also point to David Teniers’ contribution. It is widely accepted that ‘no temptation’ refers to one of Teniers’ many portrayals of the
Temptation of St Anthony; specifically, one where he is not being tempted. There is much symbolism connecting these paintings with the Rennes-le-Château mystery; however, alternate interpretations can be drawn.
In 1651 David Teniers completed a series of at least four paintings that served as a visual archive for the gallery accumulated by the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria. Teniers was mindful of being precise, even noting the names of each artist in the frames of the represented paintings. The ‘no temptation’ reference in the decoded message could refer to these paintings, and one in particular. I believe it is referred to in this way because Teniers was never tempted by the knowledge of the secret and its value, but rather conveyed the message through copies of paintings created by those who did have the knowledge, whether or not he held that information himself.
With further research, I discovered Poussin’s mountain once more, this time in David Teniers’ archive paintings. In the top left corner of the painting below, entitled simply,
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery (1647), I identified the same mountain which Poussin had explicitly included in other paintings. Its features are very distinct and, again, seemingly intentional.
David Teniers, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery, Museo del Prado, Madrid
Close-up of painting containing the ‘Arcadia mountain’
There was now a direct connection between the works of Poussin and the works of Teniers, the two artists referenced in the decoded message. Immediately, this raised more questions, such as: did this mountain, which existed in multiple paintings, provide a clue as to what the key is, or was it a key at all?
Close-up of mountain in Teniers’
Gallery painting (left),
Arcadia (centre) and
Nurture of Jupiter and
Triumph of Pan combined (right)
There are facts about this work and, in particular, the individual for whom the painting was commissioned, that create an interesting perspective, if these paintings are, in fact, those required in order to solve the riddle. At least two of the five connected paintings that form the background landscape in Poussin’s paintings were commissioned for
Cardinal Richelieu, and the Teniers
Gallery painting was commissioned for
Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. In their day, these two notables were at odds politically. Cardinal Richelieu was in complete opposition to the rule of the Habsburg family in Europe, of which Leopold was a member. If these paintings had to be used together in order to discover what was hidden in them, then there was a very slim chance of the secret being revealed, given the animosity between their owners.
As with many discoveries in the Rennes-le-Château mystery, these findings raised yet more questions, most prominently: if Teniers’
Gallery painting simply depicted reproductions of other paintings, was there another artist, completely separate from Poussin and Teniers (and who may have held the same knowledge possessed by Poussin), who was now involved and had placed clues in his own art? Who was this new painter and what clues did he hold?
The Sun Amidst Small Stars
The artists displayed in Archduke Leopold Wilhelm’s gallery included, amongst others, Palma Vecchio, Jacopo Tintoretto, Lorenzo Lotto and the artist that our attention now turns to, Tiziano Vicellio, or Titian, as he was known. In his painting,
Nymph and Shepherd (1575-76), we find the next piece of the puzzle.
The artists displayed in Archduke Leopold Wilhelm’s gallery included, amongst others, Palma Vecchio, Jacopo Tintoretto, Lorenzo Lotto and the artist that our attention now turns to, Tiziano Vicellio, or Titian, as he was known. In his painting,
Nymph and Shepherd (1575-76), we find the next piece of the puzzle.
Titian, Nymph and Shepherd, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Titian was one of the most influential Italian artists of the 16th century and his works are considered to be masterpieces. His painting is reproduced by Teniers in his gallery archive and what is interesting, with regard to the mystery, is that he lived in the century before Teniers and Poussin. He painted Nymph and Shepherd in 1575 and it was not until 1636 that Poussin painted his mountain, and 1647 when Teniers recreated it in his gallery paintings.
When looking at Titian’s work, Nymph and Shepherd, darkened over time, it is difficult to determine whether the same mountain appears in the background. Therefore, even if someone was aware of the importance of the mountain from Poussin’s paintings, they would not see it, because the painting is worn. A slight outline still exists, but it is not distinct enough to determine if it is the same mountain. It may be thanks only to Teniers’ strict attention to detail when reproducing the painting that we can see the features which existed when the painting was merely 72 years of age, as opposed to its current age of 435+ years. This affords us the unique insight that the mountain was possibly portrayed by another, even more influential, artist. Until further x-ray analysis of the painting is carried out, it is impossible to be sure.
If the painting by Titian had been commissioned, it is not known by whom. This was one of Titian’s last works, painted in the final months of his life and not discovered until after his death
[4]. Tracing Titian’s connection to the Rennes-le-Château mystery at first seems to provide no answers. However, when one looks into who his friends were, more possible connections surface.
Titian, in his later years, became good friends with, and, some speculate, even intimate with, a man named Pietro Aretino. Aretino was an author, playwright and poet. He is considered one of the world’s earliest pornographers and often mocked prominent political and religious leaders; he was considered one of the wittiest writers of the Renaissance. Despite Aretino’s political incorrectness, Pope Clement VII appointed him to the Knights of Rhodes. This group was originally known as the Knights Hospitaller during the crusades and was renowned for working closely with the Templars in the Holy Land. It was the Knights of Rhodes who received the Templars’ possessions after most of the order was killed by the Church and French government. This is important to note, because many believe that what is held at Rennes-le-Château was placed there by the Templars; the area around Rennes-le-Château in the Languedoc was inhabited by the Templars for many years while they prevailed in Europe. Might there be a connection between what the Templars may have left in Rennes-le-Château and what was given to the Knights of Rhodes?
So, what does all this mean with respect to the mystery of Rennes-le-Château? These discoveries open up a new direction that could help unveil the hidden message, prompting new questions, such as:
Had Titian acquired the same knowledge that Poussin was said to possess, and will his paintings contain evidence of what this knowledge is?
Is the landscape, that is intentionally placed in at least six different paintings by two (possibly three) different artists, the ‘key’ described in the message from Saunière’s parchment?
Are the further references in Saunière’s parchment clues to different Titian paintings to look for?
If the mountain exists near Rennes-le-Château, then is it possible that the artists were creating a visual map that points to a specific location in the area?
Although it would appear that these connections simply raise more questions than answers, it is safe to say that there is a mystery surrounding the mountains portrayed in the paintings, and that those who depicted the landscape placed it with the deliberate intent of passing on a message to those with the means to find it.
-
Josh Kroeker
Footnotes:
1. Professor Christopher Cornford of the Royal College of Arts studied the geometric structure of
Arcadia. Despite the fact that the majority of paintings he had studied before this used ‘arithmetic subdivisions of the rectangle”,
Arcadia used a
n older, ‘masonic geometric’ structure that used pentagonal geometry.
MJF: Pentagonal geometry may link here with the mathematical form called the ‘pentatope’, which is the simplest regular figure in four dimensions, representing the four-dimensional analog of the solid tetrahedron. Essentially it is a three-dimensional tetrahedron as it would be seen in four dimensions. The two-dimensional form of this four-dimensional object is a pentagon with the vertices connected by lines. As such, it would hold the key to accessing spatial dimensions higher than our traditional three. Curiously, this shape just happens to bear a striking resemblance to the so-called “D & M” Pyramid at Cydonia. Hence, we must ask whether Poussin had some esoteric knowledge of higher dimensions through his membership of the Freemasons or Rosicrucians, even if he had no true realisation of the hyperdimensional physics that such geometry underlies.
The pentatope may also explain what the C’s said here concerning the subject of the tetrahedron and the pentagon and its relationship to hyper-dimensional physics:
Session 17August 1996:
Q: (L) Do the tetrahedrons spin within the sphere? Do these power points of the tetrahedron spin?
A: Energy fields flow in balance.
Q: (T) So they're spinning to keep balance? (J) Like a gyro. [Notice that the Cs did NOT say that anything was spinning, only that energy was flowing.] (T) Is there... now, am I correct in the fact that there's a direct relationship here to the real Hebrew Star of David, to these tetrahedrals?
A: Yes.
Q: (T) And that everything that has been done to it for the last 500 years or so, has been done to screw things up?
A: Yes.
Q: (T) Yes. So that that symbol is not a religious symbol, as such, but a very important... (L)...power symbol?
A: Yes.
Q: (T) It describes a physics that transcends the densities.
A: So is pentagon.
Q: (T) So is the Pentagon? (J) A pentagon. (T) The pentagon shape. These are part of what humans describe as the sacred geometries.
A: Yes.
And here as well:
Session 28 November 1998:
Q: (A) Last time when we were talking, you made an essential division between the physical world and the non-physical world, ethereal world, the one which cannot be quantified. Now, I know something about the physical world, how it is built, and the main concepts of atoms and forces and so on. I would like to know what are the building blocks that describe this ethereal world. I am asking because you said that these two worlds can be bridged, if not united. In order to bridge them, I need to know something about this ethereal world. Where can I learn it?
A: Consciousness is in reality, the purest form of energy. The alter realm is composed of consciousness energy. To better understand the concept, one must utilize one’s memory of particularly vivid dreams, when one had the sensate of physicality in a transitory state.
Q: (A) How to bridge the physical and ethereal worlds?
A: Gravity is the key. One must formulate an hypothesis based upon the quantum range of wave particulate transfer. In other words, where does the wave go when it appears to disappear into the very core of an object with a strong gravitational field? Pentagon, hexagon, you know?!?
Elsewhere, the C’s have also confirmed that there was a good reason why the Pentagon building in Washington DC, the headquarters of America’s military establishment, was built in that particular shape.
Lincoln, Henry. "Chapter 6 Shepherds of Arcadia." The Holy Place. New York: Arcade Pub., 1991. 62-63. Print.
2. Henry Lincoln compares the far-right mountain range that can be seen in
Arcadia and
Sacrament of Baptism to Cardou, Blanchefort and Rennes-le-Château when seen from the same angle.
Lincoln, Henry. "Chapter 6 Shepherds of Arcadia." The Holy Place. New York: Arcade Pub., 1991. 57. Print.
3. "The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art | Collection Database, The Triumph of Bacchus." The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art | Kansas City, Missouri. Web. 08 July 2010.
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/CollectionDatabase.cfm?id=3200&theme=euro.
4. Web Gallery of Art, Image Collection, Virtual Museum, Searchable Database of European Fine Arts (1000-1850). Web. 08 July 2010. Web Gallery of Art, searchable fine arts image database.
Postscript
At the beginning of the article, Kroeker refers to the tower built by Abbe Saunière, which the priest dedicated to Mary Magdalene. Kroeker subsequently refers to the presence of a small tower in both the Triumph of Bacchus and the Sacrament of Baptism but without dwelling on the point. However, I think this may be a more important clue than Kroeker realises. The tower clearly cannot be the ‘Tour Magdala’ that was built by Saunière at the beginning of the 20th Century. But could Poussin have been referring to another, then extant, tower? This is a distinct possibility, which Andrew Gough is alive to, but this will have to wait until a subsequent post to elaborate on further.
There is also the theme of the dove, which appears in Poussin’s the Sacrament of Baptism. Although in Christian iconography the dove usually depicts the Holy Ghost or Spirit, the dove was also linked in antiquity with goddesses such Inanna-Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love, sexuality and war. In classical antiquity, doves were considered sacred to the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite's associations with doves also influenced the Roman goddesses Venus and Fortuna, causing them to become associated with doves as well. Given the classical Greek references built into Poussin’s The Shepherds of Arcadia where the shepherds may be depicting Hercules, the Gemini (Castor and Pollux) and Ariadne (or the female mother goddess generally), one cannot rule such an association out.
Then there is the reference to the dove in the Grail stories and legends. As
Richard Barber states in his description of the Legend of the Holy Grail Gallery:
Wolfram von Eschenbach used Chrétien de Troyes' work as the basis for a very original version of the Grail story in the early 13th century. The Grail stone is of heavenly origin, and its history goes back to the rebellion of Lucifer against God. In other words, the Grail belongs to Christian mythology rather than the story told in the New Testament.
Each Good Friday a dove brings a small white wafer from heaven and places it on the stone: 'By this the stone receives everything good that bears scent on this earth by way of food and drink, as if it were the perfection of paradise.' The Grail has magical powers, and can provide food, but these powers are conferred on it by a divine providence. [
MJF: Indeed, the C’s have said that “In ancient times this object was called the Gift of God. It was used to aid in the manifestation of all things needful for existence”.]
The symbol of the Grail knights is the turtle-dove, and this was an accepted symbol for the Holy Ghost, taken from the biblical account of Christ’s baptism when ‘he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove’. It is the Holy Ghost which descends to the Grail each Good Friday in the form of a dove, and the white wafer which it bears can only be intended as the wafer taken at Mass.
I commented on this in my earlier post here: (1) Alton Towers, Sir Francis Bacon and the Rosicrucians | Page 44 | Cassiopaea Forum
The researcher Tracy Twyman commented on this painting saying that: “The painting shows one saint pointing up towards a descending dove that is carrying the holy host, a representation of the Grail stone”.
But as I pointed out, there does not appear to be a saint pointing up towards a descending dove in the above work and the bird is probably a raven not a dove.
In occultic terms, the Raven is a symbol of conspiring with the Universe, and all of the magic that it holds. The raven has a penchant for collecting shiny objects, as if they were his tools of divination. The raven is also adept at solving puzzles, as he is known for his intelligence and ability to learn quickly and apply his knowledge to difficult challenges. Hence, could this be an alternative meaning to Tenier’s depiction of a raven bringing bread to the two saints. Is the bird bringing knowledge to solve the puzzle?
However, the fact that the bird appears to be carrying a wafer in its beak does suggest a link to the Grail legend where a dove fulfils the same role.
Curiously there is another Tenier painting on the temptation of St Anthony the Hermit (both Teniers, father and son, painted several versions – don’t ask me why though), which clearly depicts a Grail like scene.
The young woman approaching St Anthony and the lady to his right who is pointing towards her seems to be a reference to Percival’s experience in the Grail castle where he saw a mysterious procession with a young maiden carrying the Grail on a platter. Here she seems to be carrying a chalice (unless my eyes deceive me), which is a Christian cypher for the Grail, with an attendant holding her train, suggesting nobility. Again, we have a bird swooping down, which may have a wafer in its beak (my copy of the painting is not the best). This particular depiction of the temptation of St Anthony therefore seems to be suggesting that the Grail may in itself represent a temptation, or test of virtue, to prove whether one is worthy of it and its gifts.
Kroeker did not choose to explore these other themes in his article but concentrated instead on the mountains in the background of Poussin’s paintings. In doing this though, I think he was really on to something. The question we need to ask is, if Poussin was depicting a real mountain, which mountain was it meant to be?
