The Quartier Royal of Brussels: a forest of symbols The largest masonic complex in the world?

This study is dedicated to Pascal Pirotte

Strength for the undertaking, Wisdom for the execution and Beauty for the ornament.

All it takes is for the crowd to enjoy in the vision of the show : to the initiated will not escape, at the same time, its high significance.

Goethe about Mozart's The Magic Flute

"What are the duties of a Freemason?"

- Fleeing vice and practising virtue

- How should he practice virtue?

- By preferring justice and truth to everything else".

Masonic catechism

Real secrets are those that continue to be secrets even when they are revealed.

I do this in memory of those who were and those who are no longer.

Masonry of the Templars (18th century) The Brussels Park or the Perfect Plan? (english version to be continued – 2021.02.23)

F ull F rench version

Brief presentation

In his Bruxelles, Mille ans de mystères, Paul de Saint-Hilaire seems to be the first contemporary author to have considered the layout of the Royal Park of Brussels from a Masonic point of view1. He saw in it a desire to inscribe the Lodge's main tools in the plan of the Park itself. The following tools would thus be discovered: the compass, the square, the chisel, the mallet, the hammer, the perpendicular (or plumb line), the level, the ruler or lever, and the trowel (illustration above).

Thirty years later, in his work Bruxelles maçonnique: faux mystères et vrais symboles2, the masonologist Jean van Win categorically rejected this thesis as phantasmagorical.

In his rebuttal, Jean van Win focuses on the governor of our lands at the time, Charles de Lorraine. He finds no proof of his belonging to a Lodge in the Austrian Netherlands3. Moreover, his title of Grand Master of the Teutonic Order would have prohibited him de facto from entering Masonry. This is erroneous: Wilhelm Marschall von Biberstein was both a Freemason and a high dignitary of the Teutonic Knights. Just as he was a member of La Vraie et Parfaite Harmonie in Mons (1769).

1 The hyperlinks, underlined in blue, serve as sources and support for my essay. 2 Jean van Win, Bruxelles maçonnique : faux mystères et vrais symboles, Cortext, Marcinelle, 2008 (rééd. Télélivre, 2012). 3 Pierre Chevallier quotes a letter from the Marquis de Tavannes dated 9 October 1738, which proves that Charles de Lorraine was being approached to be "received" in a French Lodge. Les Ducs sous l'Acacia, Slatkine, Genève 1994, pp. 118-119 and 168. Adolphe Cordier evokes Charles de Lorraine in his Histoire de l'Ordre maçonnique (Mons, 1854, facsimile of freemason Jottrand's copy underlined without any subjective comment concerning the prince). Its source would come from the Grande Loge of France. La Défense apologétique des Francs- Maçons (Anonymous, Amsterdam, 1767) states that Charles de Lorraine is a Freemason. Around the years 1770-1780, in the Germanic part of Europe (the Habsburg Empire and future Germany), the Templar Strict Observa nce was at the forefront and was not accountable to the other European Obediences. The Order of the Teutonic Knights had intellectual affinities with the Templar Strict Observance (Stricte Obervance Templière, abbreviation SOT, Strikte Observanz in German), which claimed to be the heir to the Order of the Temple and the chivalric societies. Its rituals were essentially Christian and Trinitarian. It took on an occultist and Gnostic orientation with the development of the Rectified Scottish Rite. The vast majority of Austrian dignitaries posted in Brussels were members of this (see p. 40). In fact, the quarrel that Jean van Win had about whether or not Charles de Lorraine belonged to any Lodge was incidental inasmuch as he was not the direct sponsor of the architect of the Brussels Park, the Frenchman Barnabé Guimard. It was in fact Prince Georges-Adam Starhemberg was at the helm from the very beginning.

The main protagonists of the Royal Park of Brussels

The patron: Prince of Starhemberg (1724-1807), after having been ambassador to France, returned to Vienna in 1766. Very quickly, the disagreement with Emperor Joseph II forced him to leave for other places. He resumed his career as a diplomat and arrived in Brussels in 1770 with the enviable title of Minister Plenipotentiary (Prime Minister) to the Governor General of the Netherlands, Charles de Lorraine. He succeeded the Count of Cobenzl, who had just died. His good relations with Charles de Lorraine seem to have been constructive, if I may put it that way, since he had his hands free for an ambitious town-planning project. This high dignitary of the Empire was initiated in 1744 in Leipzig in a Lodge which would later become, by merger, Minerve aux Trois Palmes (Minerva with The Three Palms). This Lodge became a member of the Templar Strict Observance in 1766. There is no ambiguity on this subject4. In 1774, he decided to draw up the project for the future Royal Quarter and the Park that was its epicentre, with the blessing of Charles de Lorraine and Chancellor Kaunitz (1711-1794) in Vienna. He surrounded himself with collaborators such as Ange-Charles de Limpens, an eminent member of the Conseil des domaines et finances de Sa Majesté, and the architect Guimard. He left our city in May 1783 to take up the position of First Grand Master of the Court in Vienna. Not without having completed his masterpiece: the Royal Park. It was the landscape gardener Joachim Zinner who drew the first detailed sketch. This plan will be modified many times. And Zinner was soon confined to his role as a landscape artist. To the delight of Starhemberg, Guimard and Godecharle. In Vienna, the Freihaustheater, located on the property of the same Starhemberg, will play Mozart's Masonic opera The Magic Flute 223 times. Mozart was also a member of the SOT.

The architect: Barnabé Guimard (1739-1805), born in Amboise, studied at the Royal Academy of Architecture in Paris. Established in Brussels in 1761, he collaborated in the work on the Place Royale and the park of the same name and built the mansions that border them. He also worked on the Tervuren castle, owned by Charles de Lorraine. Thanks to his advanced training, Guimard was able to understand the stakes of the Starhemberg commission. Today, he is 4 Dresden and Leipzig in Saxony were the cradle of the Templar reform. In fact, Minerva zu den Drei Palmen (Minerva with Three Palms, in French at its creation: Minerve aux Trois Palmiers) was the result of the successive union of several Lodges. Starhemberg also attended the Lodge Aux Trois Aigles (Three Eagles, Zu den drei Adlern, 1770). Albert of Saxe-Teschen, successor of Charles de Lorraine, was the protector of this very secret Viennese Lodge. A "Scottish" chapter (side degrees) was even dedicated to him, Albert zum goldenen Helm. V. De Bonardy, controller (financial inspector) of Starhemberg, was the Venerable of the Lodge Les Vrais Amis de la Justice (Great East of Brussels). He had the mails of his Lodge sent to the address of the Prince (information kindly provided by my friend André Kervella). The Prince of Kaunitz, Chancellor of the Empire and Mason, closely followed the development of the Royal Quarter. Starhemberg, his friend and relative, had succeeded him as ambassador to Versailles (1753). Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire, L'espace des francs-maçons. Une sociabilité européenne au XVIIIe siècle, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2003. see chap. 4 on Masonry in Saxony. recognised as the author of the master plan, obviously under the orders of his prince. The work on the park was carried out between 1775 and 1783. Was he a Freemason? No one can say. His father would have been a knight of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (Malta).

The Ornamentalist: the sculptor Gilles-Lambert Godecharle (1750-1835) can boast of a work of an amiable neo-classicism. In a letter dated 6 March 1777 addressed to his Brethren, he expressed his gratitude to the Brussels authorities who approached him to decorate the Brussels Park. He became the official sculptor of the Court of Charles de Lorraine in replacement of his master, the famous Laurent Delvaux, who died in 1778, and also the author of the "terms" or "Hermes" of the Park. After formative and fruitful stays in Paris, Berlin, London and Rome, Godecharle returned to Brussels around 1780 with a sketch of a first monument in his trunk: an obelisk fountain intended to adorn the Park (see and p. 17-18).

It is worth mentioning that Godecharle was an affiliated member of Les Vrais Amis de l'Union founded in 1782. This Lodge will adopt very quickly the Rite Fraçais. It had its headquarters in rue de l'Orangerie, the present rue Henri Beyaert, which is located behind the Palais de la Nation, rue de la Loi. Our country seems to have kept links with Minerve aux Trois Palmiers of Starhemberg: Eugène Defacqz, Grand Master of the Grand Orient de Belgique, became a member in 1850. At the same time, the latter was closely following the work of a "park commission" charged with restoring the site's lustre.

The dedicatee: Charles de Lorraine (1712-1780) was appointed governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1744 to 17805. His name is only mentioned at the bottom of this list because he probably only played a "modest and formal"6 role in the layout of the Park and its ornamentation. He relied entirely on Starhemberg. Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (until 1761), like his Prime Minister and then Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, he administered with wisdom and bonhomie the populations entrusted to him.

* * *

Watercolour map (ca. 1775-1776)7

5 Portrait de Charles de Lorraine with his "tools" on the left (1753, detail). Source: KBR, Cabinet des estampes. Charles de Lorraine et son temps, Arlette Fougnies, Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er, Bruxelles, 1991. 6 Xavier Duquenne, Le parc de Bruxelles, CFC-Éd., Bruxelles, 1993, p. 35. 7 A "piramide" (sic) is planned in the circular basin on the 1776 plan annexed to the Austrian patents (Le parc de Bruxelles, CFC-Éd., Brussels, 1993). The pyramid, a solar symbol par excellence, represents the link between man and his god, earth and sky, matter and spirit, death and life with a view to resurrection (Osiris). With its four-sided base and its point, the pyramid is also similar to the quintessence (the quaternary transcended by the Principle) and to the Flaming Star or Philosopher's Stone. On the plan of the Park in 1774, the very first version, a square would be visible from the octagonal basin. Note the triangle clearly visible under the screw of the compass. Jean van Win's counter-arguments and my answers

Here are the main reproaches of Jean van Win addressed to Paul of Saint Hilaire. Let us list them briefly:

1. No one has ever claimed the Masonic interpretation of the Park. 2. A compass and a stonecutter's chisel (sic) do not have a ring at their head. 3. The square of the Lodge table has in all cases branches of equal length. 4. The hammer is not a Masonic tool. 5. The representation of the perpendicular is not traditional. 6. The ruler (or lever) ignores the hole in the large circular basin and passes through it. 7. The trowel is extended by an unusual handle (which starts from the Place Royale where the statue of Charles de Lorraine stood). The tool is represented in plan, contrary to Masonic tradition. 8. The squaring of the circle is not represented by the large circular basin, the small octagonal basin and the Place Royale because the latter is not square but rectangular.

Here are my arguments which partly plead in favour of Paul de Saint-Hilaire. They respond to the eight points raised by Jean van Win :

1. In the 18th century, Freemasonry still possessed all the characteristics of a very discreet society, even secret i.a. by its Christian Illuminist branch. Three papal bulls (1738, 1751 and 1776) excommunicated or implicitly condemned all those who belonged to a Lodge. And Emperor Joseph II did not like them very much. No one therefore had any interest in boasting about the "Masonic" layout of the Royal Park of Brussels, which was not immediately obvious. All the more so as the chosen location, the Royal Quarter, was emblematic of the power in place. A power in which the papists were still massively occupying important functions. Nowadays, the famous Lodge of the Grand Orient de Belgique, Les Amis Philanthropes, seems to assume the Masonic interpretation of the Royal Park. Indeed, on the occasion of its bicentenary (1998), it issued a souvenir bearing the Lodge's stamp ( see at the bottom of the link) and a map of the Park. Only 100 copies of the philatelic stamp of the first day of issue were printed for the "Open Day" on 30 August 1998. It is therefore a first-rate claim, indeed a formal proof: why choose the Park if there is nothing Masonic about it!8.

8 Surprisingly, there is a tangible link between the Rectified Scottish Rite and Les Amis Philanthropes. From the time of its establishment in 1798, 7 of the 8 maxims engraved in the Temple forecourt were taken from the Masonic Rule adopted at the Willhelmsbad Convent (1782), the founder of the... Rectified Scottish Rite. If "the Masonic Park" is a faribole, one may wonder why Freemasons collaborated on the very well researched Guide Itinéraire de la Franc-maçonnerie à Bruxelles, Société Royale Belge de Géographie, co-publication Parcours maçonnique, Bruxelles, 2000 (republished in 2008). With a few reservations, the route evokes the thesis of Saint-Hilaire (see p. 51-55 of the opus). Andrée Despy-Meyer, ULB archivist, a contributor to the book, said in Le Soir on 10 May 2000: "The plan of the Brussels park, based on the two branches of a compass, is the most famous example of Masonic symbolism in urban planning in the city." The first Temples of Les Vrais Amis de l’Union (rue de l'Orangerie, now rue Henri Beyaert) and of Les Amis Philanthropes (site of the former Carmelite Convent, rue des Sablons, destroyed) seem to be located on either side of the sloping driveway of the Park (see appendix 8). In Parcs et jardins de Bruxelles, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, 1993), the landscape architect Jacques Boulanger-Français takes up the hypothesis of the "Masonic Park". In his Initiation à la Franc- Maçonnerie (Marabout, 2007), the co-author Jean-Michel Quillardet, former Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France (2005-2008), accredits it. In his Bruxelles omnibus (Michel Lafon, Paris, 2019), Patrick Weber is of the same opinion and on his website François Schuiten mentions it. 2. It is an architect's compass and not a stonemason's, hence the ring on the head.

3. Generally speaking, there are squares with unequal branches in the Lodge, such as the plausible one marked by Saint-Hilaire. A square with equal branches can easily be read in the two upper squares of the Park. This space allows the visitor to move from the square to the compass, whose head is in the circular basin. In the Masonic glossary, to go from the square to the compass means to access the Mastery. It should be noted that two squares assembled together, like those in the Park, form a long square. This is the symbolic shape of a Lodge.

4. At the grade of Apprentice of the Templar Strict Observance, there are three tools: the Bible, the compass and the hammer. A Lodge Aux Trois Marteaux (Three Hammers) existed: Baron Hund frequented it. This tool appears on the Lodge table reproduced at the end of the article (p. 28, figure no. 6).

5. This is a dubious, but not fundamental, point in Saint-Hilaire's thesis.

6. Saint-Hilaire could have avoided passing the chisel through the basin. But this approximation does not make it a misinterpretation.

7. The handle of the trowel may seem unusual, but Saint-Hilaire's drawing roughly corresponds to the trowel shown on the Lodge painting at the bottom of the article (see p. 28, pic nr. 18)9.

8. The octagonal basin alone symbolises the squaring of the circle, but also the resurrection and immortality of the soul. There is no need to look for the square in Place Royale when it could be found in the layout of the Park, if this had been the intention of the planner. What remains to be demonstrated...

Joint omissions by Jean van Win and Paul de Saint-Hilaire

The two authors, who were both fine bloodhounds in other circumstances, abandoned an important part of the Park: the shallows, i.e. a vestige of the former garenne ("warande" in Flemish) of the Dukes of Brabant and Burgundy, whose Palace stood on Place Royale until 1731. As early as the 15th century, this lost corner of a game reserve was commonly known as the "secret garden" and later as the "labyrinth". The valley was called "Coperbeek" ("copper stream"). Originally, Guimard would have liked to fill in this depression which was a blot on his French-designed park. But the government considered this filling to be a "considerable" task (sic). In reality, the maintenance of the valley had in fact been an option like any other from the initial project. An underground, vaulted gallery was to link the two shallows. Later, many people would invest the open space to their free imagination, ideally located opposite the Royal Palace completed in 1829 in its first version.

Sheltered from the coppice, we discover in an artificial cave a Madeleine (placed there in 1879), her head resting on her left elbow, attributed to Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder. This sculptor is best known for having designed the Manneken-Pis in Brussels. The elongated saint, this Rosa Mystica, was already in the Park before the 18th century modifications. It is the oldest of the statues in the Park. In 1776, it was planned to make it the frontispiece of the Palatine Chapel, or "Golden Fleece Chapel", which was located on Place Royale in the axis of the oblique avenue in the Park. She is represented here in her cave of Sainte-Baume (Provence), one of the high places of operative Masonry, where she would have lived as a hermit for thirty years. In the past, a spring gushed out of the cave in the shallows. In this attitude of a meditative reader, Madeleine most often symbolises Wisdom as a repentant sinner. But also faith, love and hope in the resurrection of Christ of which she is the privileged witness. In the Dictionnaire raisonné

9 Plan of Saint-Hilaire slightly corrected according to Jean van Win's remarks and mine. de l'alchimie et des alchimistes, Madeleine is described as one of the most allegorical characters in alchemy because she concentrates essential symbols on her character:

"The seven demons (metals, lepers, dragons) to be vanquished, the three phases of the Work (the three ministries), the cross (the crucible), the transmutation (the resurrection) and, finally, the adept himself, Christ in the form of a gardener, the heavenly gardener [note: the alchemist], the one who cultivates love10."

Opposite the sculpted group is the bronze bust of Peter the Great. No one has ever wondered why it was deemed appropriate to recall that, during his visit to Brussels, the Tsar threw up here after a binge drinking at the nearby Palace! As the Latin inscription on the square curbstone of the former Madeleine fountain reminds us in chosen terms. In essence, the sovereign "ennobled the water with the wine he had drunk at the third hour of the afternoon on 16 April 1717".

Jacques Dubreucq, the author of a fabulous Brussels 1000, une histoire capitale, is not far from thinking that this is a joke. The presence in a dark place of this bust, with its shabby motivations, is perhaps due to an unusual cause. The incident occurred one fine day in April 1717: it would have provided an opportunity for some 19th century Brussels Lodges to exalt under the august portrait the year of the official foundation of speculative Freemasonry in London, namely 1717! Simple supposition. It should also be noted that the base of the bust only mentions the year 1717 and not the precise date of the Tsar's visit to this place. This golden chronogram can also be found in... the paved courtyard of the Brussels City Hall (at least in 2017)! It was Prince Anatole Demidoff (1813-1870) who in 1854 presented the bust to the city of Brussels in memory of the Tsar's official visit 137 years earlier. With this present, a work attributed to the German sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch, he wished to pay homage to the sovereign who had ennobled his ancestor Nikita Demidoff, the Court's arms supplier. It is not known for what reason the bust was moved to the shallows, which are not very visible to the general public. In this curious context, the "Stone" is here virtually "hidden", in accordance with the V.I.T.R.I.O.L. formula. An alchemical allusion is possible: the first name "Peter" (in French « Pierre », stone) is homonymously reminiscent of the philosopher's "Stone", the Elixir of long life. And a Gospel resorts to this play on words: "And I tell you that you are Peter,and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hadeswill not overcome it. (Matthew, 16:18)". And has not our "Peter" the Great, in the image of Christ, changed, transubstantiated water into wine (Saint-Hilaire alludes to this briefly). From a Masonic point of view, this episode could evoke the cup of libations or the chalice of bitterness offered to the neophyte and which represents the difficulties of the initiatory path. Let us observe that all these "displacements" in the shallows took place in the second half of the 19th century.

In 1904, the Belgian State, on the instructions of King Leopold II, had wanted to erase the shallows of the Park in order to widen view of his brand new Royal Palace. This was to the great anger of the population, who were very fond of this remnant of the old garenne. Three years later, work was undertaken clandestinely (sic) to make it disappear entirely. But Charles Buls, an influential politician in Brussels and a militant freemason, managed to stop the manoeuvre and had the King's architect condemned by the court.

Unusual details, the imposing lampposts on the Place des Palais, installed by the City of Brussels, are decorated with discreet five-pointed stars and other motifs (palm blossoms and pomegranate fruit?)... At the bottom, a crown similar to the one on the base of the Allegory of Truth (see p. 32).

10 Christian Montésinos, Dictionnaire raisonné de l'alchimie et des alchimistes, Éd. de La Hutte, Bonneuil- en-Valois. Marie- Madeleine appears on the first known Lodge boards of the grade of Rose-Croix. Dominique Jardin, Aux sources de l’Écossisme, le premier Tuileur illustré, Dervy, Paris, 2019. Alchemical ornamentation?

Without falling into the trap of Saint-Hilaire, who tended to see mystery and secrecy at the bend of every street, it is useful to evoke the following subjects because they may have a link with an alchemical symbolism of the Royal Park11. Often subsequent to its creation. On the retaining wall of the shallows, the visitor discovers the inscription V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (and mirrored L.O.I.R.T.I.V.). This is an acronym that is both alchemical and masonic, which means "Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificandoque Invenies Occultum Lapidem", meaning "Visit the interior of the earth and by rectifying [discovering the right path] you will find the hidden stone. The name "shallows" indicates that the visitor is in the interior of the earth, at least at the gates of one between two worlds? These 14 wrought iron letters are the remains of an exhibition organised in 1991 by the Communauté française (now the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles).

The text of the catalogue is based on the premise that the Park is indeed... masonic! To my knowledge, the City of Brussels has never pursued what can only be called a "transformation" of a listed heritage since 1971. I deduce from this that some Brussels officials have given their tacit agreement12.

In many places, one discovers sculptures which could, but not necessarily because the mythological symbols are so polysemic, have something to do with alchemy. Let us mention them without superfluous order or commentary: two petrified Chinese lions (komeinu, guardians of the Temple? ) transferred from the rue Héraldique opposite the Royal Palace, twelve hermaic stelae (originally eighteen), of which one seems to be a Christ-Hermes, three Venus, Thetis (disappeared), Flora and Pomona (Abundance), a Mercury with a caduceus, the alchemical couple Apollo and Diana, Leda, Meleagre and Adonis with a boar, an Apollo of the Belvedere and a Venus in the mirror (Truth ? ), a dog (Hund in German?), Cleopatra and Alexander (Egypt and Greece, land of Alchemy and Wisdom), the octagon basin or the fountain of youth, etc. Many of the sculptures come from the castle of Tervuren, the country estate of Charles de Lorraine who died in 1780. It was Godecharle who was responsible for disseminating them in the Park. It seems that the current ornamentation no longer has much in common with that which was planned as part of an overall plan. But one thing is certain: the sculptor had designed an obelisk which should have been erected at the place of the round basin. Mercury-Hermes, god of ancient mysteries and alchemy, would have been its emblematic figure. It was planned to associate Minerva (Wisdom) and Abundance (cornucopia), the trophy of Isis-Ceres-Demeter, with Hermes, god of crossroads and twilights, morning and evening (see p. 18).

The central axis of the Park allows one to travel towards the East through the four fundamental elements: earth (the shallow), water (the octagonal-baptistery basin) and fire-air (the round basin and, not placed, its obelisk, crowned with a golden crowned eagle)13. In 1841 a kiosk at the Phoenix adorned the basin for a few years. The eagle and the phoenix both represent fire (and air). Finally, the Heraldic Chamber, which housed the Treasure of the Golden Fleece, was at the end of this central axis, which in my opinion represents "the sacred way".The Golden Fleece and the Phoenix are two powerful symbols of this Philosopher's Stone which crowns the achievement of the Great Work (see annexes 3 and 4). The town planners in the Park district

11 For any alchemical interpretation in the 18th century, it is imperative to refer, but not only, to Dom Pernety and his extravagant Dictionnaire mytho-hermétique, dans lequel on trouve les allégories fabuleuses des poètes, les métaphores, les énigmes et les termes barbares des philosophes hermétiques expliqués (1758). 12 L’Œuvre au vert : 13 œuvres pour le parc de Bruxelles, Communauté française de Belgique, Bruxelles, 1991. 13 On the symbolism of the obelisk in the middle of a circle in 18th century English gardens: Patrizia Granziera, Freemasonic Symbolism and Georgian Gardens, in Esoterica. The Journal of Esoteric Studies, vol. V, 2003 (p. 14 ff.) have placed heavy emphasis on the word "royal": Parc Royal, rue Royale and Place Royale. This is odd inasmuch as the Austrian Netherlands at the time was part of an Empire, Austria, and not a Kingdom. As far as the Park is concerned, it could be an allusion to Royal Art, in the Masonic and/or alchemical sense. However, this hypothesis is naturally undemonstrable. On the other hand, the "Duke" Charles de Lorraine bore the title of "Royal" Highness. Charles was also the titular "king" of Jerusalem. His standing statue was erected in the centre of the Place Royale in 1775 on the site of the present Godfrey of Bouillon, conqueror of the Holy City on 15 July 1099. Masonic geometry and structure of the Park

"The appearance of a Masonic symbol is not sufficient to affirm that the composition of a garden is underpinned by an initiatory intention. But the number of symbols, their orientation and the order in which they appear can acquire meaning, like the parts of a rebus or the markers of a path14."

In this symbolic place, like that of the Château d’Attre contemporary with the Park, the ascending route - a difference in height in the direction of the width (6 m) is attested - began in the West (West or entrance to the Temple), was prolonged by the desert North (Septentrion), continued by the East (Initiatic East and unplaced obelisk) and ended with the noon light facing South: temple-rotunda to the south-east (now Place du Trône) or the Golden Fleece in the middle axis. It should therefore be emphasised that the orientation of the Brussels Park is purely symbolic by Masonic standards. In fact, few Lodges were built along the east-west axis. The main entrance to the Brussels Park is at the corner of the street and the Place Royale and the end of the Rue de la Loi: either from the West to the symbolic East, with its round basin (the compass screw) and perhaps the pediment of the Parliament. More generally, the Park has three main entrances, this "monumental trinity" according to a 1847 guide, centred on the screw and the points of the compass.

The route through the Royal Quarter and the Park, this "sublime design"15 as one of the actors of the time put it, therefore begins on the Rue de la Régence side. The square was closed by a Passage des Colonnes. One thinks of the Columns of Hercules (Gibraltar) and the unknown world beyond, but also of the columns of the Lodge erected in the West, which separate the sacred space from the profane world. In this configuration, the popular Brussels, the lower city or the profane world, lies to the symbolic north, the dwelling place of ignorance (from the closed space of the Royal Quarter, the walker could not see Brussels). For the time being, let us leave to our left the church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg, which has close links with the Temple of King Solomon - and its corollary the New Jerusalem - omnipresent in the Masonic rituals of the 18th century (see p. 38-39).

The trophies of the Impasse du Borgendael and the Hôtel Errera, at the beginning of Rue Royale (street number 14), immediately evoke the quest for the Golden Fleece linked to the Philosopher's Stone (see appendix 4). The pedestals at the entrances to the Park are surmounted by pomegranates (and three dots), symbols of fraternity or fecundity. These adorned the porch of the Temple of Solomon. They are often found on the J and B columns of a Lodge at the grade of Apprentice. It remains to be seen whether this architectural form is commonplace in this era of invasive neo-classicism.

The shallows, an allegory of rough stone, could correspond to the bowels of the earth or to the "cave of election" which precedes the initiation to the true Light. Charles de Lorraine had forbidden access to it by means of fences. In the 1820s, they were still lined with cradles of chestnut and acacia trees.

The nymph in the cave and spring of the garden considered to be Masonic in the Château d'Attre is curiously called Marie-Madeleine as in the Parc de Bruxelles. They have the same posture.

14 Jean-Louis Vanden Eynde, Promenades initiatiques aux jardins. In his article, the author, a professor at the UCL (Louvain-la-Neuve), cites an impressive number of 18th century gardens that are susceptible to Masonic interpretation. 15 The term "sublime" is often used in a Masonic setting in the 18th century. It is found among the alchemists where it means "raised in the air". Figuratively speaking: "that which is very high in moral, aesthetic and intellectual values. » The diagonal, which starts from the Place Royale and the statue of Charles de Lorraine is the major axis. It recalls the "Dirigit Obliqua" of the Strict Observance (SOT): "he/she makes straight/rectifies what is oblique". In the mystical sense: "He (God) straightens up the man who has made a fault" in accordance with the teaching of the Scottish Rite, rightly called "Rectified". "Dirigit obliqua" is the word of recognition to the grade of Companion of the SOT. It could also mean the perfection of the work of the Order or that "His Majesty reforms all abuses that creep into the State". The statue of Charles de Lorraine in Place Royale is in fact in the perspective of the round basin that symbolises God, whose representative he is on earth. This diagonal also points to the setting sun at the winter solstice, feast (December 27th) of St. John to the same Place Royale. The evangelist is one of the two "patrons" of Freemasonry, mainly of the Rectified Scottish Rite.

The Freemason celebrates the Winter Solstice, "Winter Saint John" (in French, Saint-Jean d’Hiver), between the 24 and 27 December. "Enlightened", he honours the moment when the Sun stops its course. He participates in the birth of the "Inner Sun" during the solstitial meetingt. At this time of the year, mainly on December 27th, light triumphs over darkness, as the prologue to the Gospel of John, dear to 18th century Freemasonry, says: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Associated with Janus, the winter solstice gives the key to the Gate of the Gods and the Great Mysteries. It was the time when every Mason had to participate in a banquet preceded by a solemn mass. Still at the end of this major south-western axis is a carved Charity. Charity, in the plural sense, was the primary virtue of every Mason in the 18th century. With its obelisk (absent), the central axis and/or the "oblique" aisle could have symbolised the contribution of the creative Light of the East to the darkness of the West.

As for the second oblique alley, it was aimed at a mound or a rotunda (an unrealized temple of Venus, Apollo or Friendship?) decorated with plane trees, symbols of regeneration. It is the present Place du Trône and its grassy delta. Not far away, Alexander the Great and Cleopatra guarded the entrance to this axis, which could remind us of the ancient Mysteries and the two Lights of Alchemy and Gnosis: Greece and Egypt. Another straight line, via the two points of the compass, linked this rotunda to Church of St. James, the statue of Charles de Lorraine, the "guardian of the Temple", and to his palace with an alchemical connotation according to some authors (see appendix 8).

The oblique driveway is "rectified" by the central axis of the Park, "the celestial way", which targets the Allegory of (divine) Justice in the Palace de la Nation (current Parliament and Senate, rue de la Loi) celebrating the Victory of Virtue over Vices, a major theme for 18th century Masons, the Virtue and Vice representing Knowledge and Ignorance. And its luminous Delta adorning the woman's chest on the right (see. p. 36). In the opposite direction, the axis designated the Heraldic Chamber which housed the Treasury of the Golden Fleece from 1789 to 1794. The Cross of the Oath was its jewel (see appendix 5).

The round basin is the focal point of the Park: it allows visitors to discover its mastered layout. On the 1776 plan (see note 7), the basin looks more like the screw of a compass. Note that the manifested God, the "Supreme Being" (the term used by the SOT), but also the alchemical Sun and Gold are all represented by a point in the centre of a circle. This would be equivalent to the path of stars and the construction of the Universe.

The triangular obelisk of Godecharle with Minerva-Athena, the Abundance and Mercury- Hermes in the middle was to be "the last stone of the whole edifice", either the keystone or the cornerstone.

The original plan is based on four squares (499 feet and 4 inches, see note 7). Coincidentally, the quadruple square bordered in white is part of the Master's ritual favoured by the Strict Observance: it represents the shroud covering the coffin of Hiram, the Man-God. The "green carpet" of the Park, notwithstanding the two western breaks, corresponds to the proportions of the Rectified Scottish Rite Carpet from the Lodge : "It forms a long square, so that its width is to the length as 2 is to 3. It is surrounded in all its outer parts by a Wide Compartmental Border. It serves to enclose the mysterious emblems of the Masons. "(see appendix 8)

The three pillars of a Masonic Temple, Strenght-Beauty-Wisdom, give it its sacred character.

In the Royal Quarter, the Fortitude "that sustains" (symbolic north-west) would correspond to the statue of Charles de Lorraine and the club of Hercules (see appendix 6), Place Royale and rue Royale; the Beauty "that adorns" (south-west) should have been represented by a temple or a rotunda probably dedicated to Venus or Apollo, Place du Trône; Wisdom (east-east) would be located at the basin that was to be decorated with an obelisk guarded by Minerva, Mercury and Abundance (Isis-Cérès-Déméter) or at the pediment of the Palais de la Nation (Minerva-Wisdom or Justice). Generally speaking, it is curious not to find in the Park the truncated column, symbol of the Order of the Temple abolished in 1312, but still standing thanks to the Strict Observance. In any case, Jean van Win sees it on the right-hand trophy at the entrance door of the Senate. Others on the base of a raised monument dedicated to the sculptor Godecharle entitled Allegory of Truth (1881) hidden in the bushes not far from the roundabout. It stands out like the touchstone of the Park. A young woman unveils a sketch of the pediment of the Palais de la Nation, which exalts Justice. This composition by Godecharle shows a truncated column in the middle (see p. 29).

Finally, Jean van Win seems to be right in saying that the crow's feet of the Palace of Versailles would have served as a model for the Brussels Park. However, this layout was obsolete at the end of the 1770's and a garden à la Le Nôtre (French style) is geometric and flat, whereas the Park is composed of woodland and coppice that conceals the design. Van Win adds: The angle formed by the two outer paths is in both cases very close to 50 degrees [sic]. "This imprecision is curious because the 'compass' of our park forms an angle of 45 degrees. This is, for example, the angle of the compass of the jewel in the Master's grade (Tuileur de Vuillaume, 1820). And the Rose-Croix jewel (in English, Rosy Cross) often proposes this opening (between 45 and 90°) which symbolises the Mastery and the victorious Spirit of the matter. The very first text describing in detail the Rose-Croix jewel, this "ultimate and sublime" degree, dates from 1765 (45° corresponds to a quarter of the opening of the compass):

The great jewel of this grade is a compass whose points are placed on a quarter circle, the head of the compass is an open rose whose tail is inside the points of the compass. In the middle of the compass there is a cross whose foot rests on the quarter circle and the top touches the compass head16.

In addition, there is an eagle, a pelican or, more rarely, a phoenix. The jewel in the illustration above has astonishing connections with the layout of the Park as intended by Starhemberg and Guimard. As usual, the square is absent from the composition. The base of the jewel is circular, whereas that of the Park is far from being straight: it looks more like an arc of a circle ( plan of 1782 ). The bird in the jewel, here a pelican, would correspond to the location of the octagonal basin, which would then symbolise the fountain of life and regeneration. There are many variations of this jewel.

16 Robert Vanloo, Les Bijoux Rose-croix, Dervy, Paris, 2006, p. 15 et 46 (coll. Daniel Guéguen). The claw of the Master?

"The architect Barnabé Guimard gave the greatest care to the plans for the Place Royale and the Park of this city. Each of the combinations that were made before deciding on any part of these two vast projects was accompanied by plans that Guimard formed as a result of government orders" Memorandum by Limpens to the Prince of Starhemberg, 178017

In the central axis of the Park, the project planned to erect "an obelisk, a mausoleum or a pyramid, surmounted by an eagle", crowned with gold and master of lightning (Fire). The obelisk, garnished with garlands, was to be enhanced with four medallions, decorated with four waterfalls and four statues in the centre of the round basin (Water)18. The whole was jealously guarded by eight sphinxes. The Starhemberg effigy should also have taken its place there (see Appendix 1). And this is where the rebus provisionally ends. The statues were dedicated to Mercury (Hermes), Minerva (Athena), Goddess of Wisdom, Abundance (Isis, Ceres, Demeter) and the Scheldt. The monument never saw the light of day following the refusal of Emperor Joseph II, who on futile pretexts preferred to finance public works, such as the port of Ostend19. With the engraved plan, the obelisk built "according to the rules of optics" would have served as a signature for the entire Royal Park .

Starhemberg had to make do with a Mercury-Hermes with a caduceus (note the glass eyes that make them "awake") and his coat of arms decorated with the Golden Fleece necklace. There is also a crossbow (or Jacob's ladder ). This navigational instrument was used to measure the height of the sun at noon and the North Star at night, allowing the sailor to continue on his way. We can also see the anchor of Hope. Together with the Faith on the pediment of the Palace of the Nation and the Charity in the Park, the oblique diagonal could evoke the triad Faith-Spirit- Charity of the Rose-Croix grade. The Prince, supported by his architect Guimard and his ornamentalist Godecharle, probably chose to work for the initiated: the aim was to leave his mark on an emblematic place in the new Royal Quarter. It should be noted that in the 18th century, a classic French-style park did not offer a plan to the visitor because it was perfectly understandable. It was not a complex labyrinth. But a park composed of woods and coppice required a guide: if he wanted to grasp its hermetic layout at first glance, he could consult at the roundaboutthe monument dedicated to Arts and Science and its map engraved on a cartouche. It is a work of the Freemason Godecharle (1784). The child on the right, wearing the headdress, is holding a compass (see p. 16) placed on a square, symbols of mastery among the Freemasons. The closed books, or the preserved secret (Gnosis), and the world map that surrounds it represent the universality of Knowledge and Fraternity. His colleague proposes to the visitor the map of the park, two thirds of which is unrolled and crowned with roses. At his feet is a mallet and what looks like a stonecutter's chisel, the two tools of the Apprentice. The base, which should have been raised, alludes to the stone that the Apprentice was asked to polish during his initiation. It is decorated with a braided sheaf of wheat. It also shows a laurel wreath and a Trumpet of

17 Xavier Duquenne, Le parc de Bruxelles, CFC-Éd., Brussels, 1993, p. 29. Although disturbing the symmetry of the project (two 499-foot, 4-inch long squares, see note 7), Starhemberg did not demolish the Archduchess Isabella of Austria's "Domus" (now rue Baron Horta). If the Royal Quarter has any symbolic value, it would be pungent to note that it was financed by monastic orders. 18 Note the sequence round basin (circle), sphinxes (8), waterfalls (4), obelisk (3), apex, the God-Principle and the immortal Soul (1). 19 Xavier Duquenne, Le parc de Bruxelles, CFC-Éd., Bruxelles, 1993, p. 91. Fame, symbols of victory. The "Master" looks benevolently at his "fellow craft": the Park is his "Masterpiece". It could be just another allegory. But the Knight of Ramsay in his famous speech of 1736 - which launched the Templar legend of Masonry with its allusion to the Crusaders - insisted that the love of Science and the liberal Arts was a primary quality for the Order. This is the title of the carved group. And children playing with tools near a sphere were a Masonic ponciff at the end of the 18th century20.

In conclusion, the construction of the Royal Park of Brussels is akin to an investment of public space by a high-ranking Freemason, in this case the Prince of Starhemberg. It must be seen as a highly speculative intellectual treasure hunt combined with a vain desire for personal prestige. And not an initiatory journey in the strict sense of the word21.

German diploma of 1795 (zoom in on the hyperlink for details). Note the eagle, the children, the compass open at 45°, the shape of the square, the closed book, the obelisk, the broken column, Mercury with the caduceus, Minerva, the sphinxes, etc. All these elements should have been found in the symbolic East of the Park, among others, thanks to the obelisk of Godecharle, "the most essential and important point of all", for which Houdon, a member of the famous Loge des Neuf Soeurs (Grand Orient de France), had offered to design the main bas-relief "which should make the monument speak"22.

20 Illustration above: diploma awarded by La Réunion des Amis du Nord in 1819 (East of Bruges). Méda l of Les Vrais Amis de l’Union et du Progrès réunis (1876): child carving his hexagonal stone and masonic tools. Dipl oma of La Parfaite Intelligence (1783): Charity, cherubs (children), tools, Justice, obelisk, etc. Diplôm a of Mozart's Lodge (1792): Faith, Hope, Charity, Hermes, children, tools, pyramid, globe, etc. Invitation card of Les Vrais Amis de l'Union par Antoine Cardon: cherubs and tools. 21 As early as 1777, a Brussels plan inclu ded the futur e Parc Royal : visually, the large basin lies to the east and the Park forms a long space that is particularly highlighted in relation to the rest of the city. Dupuis was the engraver and Ferraris, a member of the Lodge L'Heureuse Rencontre in Brussels was the cartographer. From the same author, north-facing map of Brussels: basin in red and marked rotunda (south-east). 22 Source : Archives Générales du Royaume, Création du Parc et de la Place royale. The words in inverted commas marked in bold and italics concerning the Park come from the epistolary exchanges between the officials of the Austrian Netherlands (Vienna and Brussels). 1. Engraved plan of the Park crowned with roses 2. Polished rough stone (work offered to the Apprentice) 3. Chisel and mallet at the left foot of the Apprentice turned Fellow craft (the map of the Park is his "masterpiece") 4. In the middle, sheaf, symbol of fertility (seed) and prosperity 5. Closed books (Knowledge of the Master) 6. Laurel wreath (Victory) and perhaps Trumpet of Fame 7. Compass crowning the Masonic square at the left foot of the Master and world map (universality of Freemasonry) Appendix 1: An avatar of Godecharle's model?

This allegorical group is probably inspired by Godecharle's obelisk project intended to adorn the large basin of the Royal Park. Joseph II had refused it, judging it too expensive. This is described in the catalogue La Toison d'Or, Cinq Siècles d'Art et d'Histoire (Éd. Ville de Bruges, 1962, p. 264): "The emperor wearing the collar of Order of the Golden Fleece is standing. He is surrounded by a helmeted woman wearing the sceptre, on the onn the left, and on the right by a Victory, accompanied by the Lion of Belgium23. Behind the emperor stands an obelisk which bears in its upper part a medallion representing the bust of Empress Maria Theresa, topped by the eagle and the imperial crown. Lying behind the obelisk, an old man symbolises the Scheldt. This group is made of soft dough biscuit and comes from the Tournai manufactory. It must have been made in 1780 [editor's note: this year coincides with the year of Godecharle's project for the Park], i.e. after the death of Maria Theresa, or shortly after this date." Collection Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Bruxelles, inv. v. 892

We can see it, no more effigy of Starhemberg. And Emperor Joseph II became the central figure in the composition. He replaced... Mercury- Hermes! But Minerva is very much present, accompanied by Victory. Let us recall here that Minerva (At the Compass then At the Three Palms) is the name of the Lodge of Starhemberg. On an esoteric level, the eagle that masters lightning could allegorize St. John the Evangelist nicknamed the Eagle of Patmos and "the Son of Thunder" (Mark, 3:17), either the baptism of light or by fire. All the more so as the eagle of the Austrian Empire is never represented in this posture and even less endowed with this attribute. As I have said, the diagonal towards the Place Royale aims at winter solstice and St. John's feast (December 27th): the eagle at the zenith, or the sun at full noon, of the obelisk - the equivalent of the axis mundi - is looking in this direction. The octagonal basin of the Park or baptistery would in this hypothesis be linked to St. John the Baptist, or baptism by water. The Scheldt, as a reclining old man, is at the back of the obelisk: it could represent the profane Old Man, the old Adam whose future initiate is led to get rid to make way for the regenerated Man. I should point out that under the Austrian regime the Scheldt estuary was closed for the benefit of Dutch. There was therefore no reason to see the Scheldt strutting alongside the Abundance on a monument designed in 1780. It was Napoleon who allowed it to reopen in 1797. The rock-shaped base, perhaps with an openwork design, would have symbolised the Passage and Eternity. The allegorical ensemble was to be "the most important and essential point of all" in the Starhemberg project (AGR). Finally, in support of the Masonic thesis of the Park, it is worth noting

23 Xavier Duquenne, Le parc de Bruxelles, CFC-Éd., Brussels, 1993, p. 91. Here, Minerva has abandoned his traditional spear for the emperor's sceptre. In the Archives générales du Royaume de Belgique (AGR), I was unable to find the sketch of the obelisk of Godecharle announced in several official letters of the time. But the AGR file is the result of a "sorted" file in the 19th century. The sketches could be in Vienna. The Fontaine du Palmier de la place du Châtelet in Paris gives an idea of this. There, a column with a Victory inscription replaces the golden eagle of the Godecharle's obelisk; the Virtues have replaced Minerva and Mercury-Hermes. The Horn of Abundance (cornucopia) and the sphinxes are very present. The Parisian fountain is also arranged in the centre of a circular basin. Xavier Duquenne, Le Parc de Wespelaar : Le jardin anglais en Belgique au 18e siècle, Spoelbergh, Bruxelles, 2001. that Godecharle was the principal sculptor of Wespelaar Castle (Flemish Brabant) from 1791 to 1822. His patron was Jean-Baptiste Plasschaert, a dignitary of Freemasonry. The architect Ghislain-Joseph Henry was a Brethren. The symbolic value of Godecharle's ornamentation is not in doubt here. The jewel of the park was an obelisk, currently being renovated, depicting immortality. It was located on an island that was supposed to represent the Champs Elysées, the dwelling place where heroes and virtuous people enjoyed eternal rest.

The Wespelaar obelisk was adorned with an Ouroboros, the snake biting its tail, symbol of eternity and enlightenment. This parallel with the obelisk project of the same Godecharle, which was to adorn the basin of the Brussels Park, seems to me to be an important argument in favour of the hypothesis of the Masonic character of the latter.

Artist's view of the obelisk of Godecharle

Sketch of a reconstitution of the obelisk of Godecharle with the round basin rejected by Joseph II. The statues in this drawing are not those that Godecharle would have sculpted (see summary description p. 12 and 14). Author: Jean-Philippe Caufriez. Source of the description: Guillaume Des Marez, Le Parc Royal à Bruxelles, Hayez, 1923, Bruxelles. Appendix 2: Medals of Minerva at the Three Palms (Leipzig)

The Lodge M inerve aux Trois Palmiers of Starhemberg is the result of a merger of several Lodges, including Minerve au Compas.

It is curious to note that Minerva's statue of the obelisk of Godecharle should have occupied the head of the compass in the Park of Brussels. This is the exact allegory of Minerve au Compas (Minerva at the Compass!) Let us note that a first project evoked the presence of a palm tree, which translates also as... phoenix in Latin. In 1776, the year of the death of Baron Hund, founder of the Strict Observance, Minerve aux Trois Palmiers (Minerva with the Three Palms) dedicated a medal to him. Curiously enough, this same Baron Hund had been received as a "Ecossais" in Brussels in 1742 (first high or side degree after the master's degree) long before he prepared his "templar" project. Source : André Kervella, Le baron Hund et la Stricte Observance Templière, Éd. de la Pierre philosophale, Hyères, 2016, p. 62

with trowel, sphere and aegis

with the sphinx, the pyramids and the owl of Athena24

24 Minerva is the Roman equivalent of the goddess Athena. It is probably the Acropolis which is represented on the medal. Appendix 3: The Phoenix at the Parc roundabout?

To enhance the Belgian bank holiday, in 1841, a dodecagonal green kiosk, the work of Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar, was placed at the circular basin of the Park. After five years, it was moved between the central alley and the diagonal pointing to the Royal Square because it obscured the view of the Palais de la Nation and the allegorical pediment of Godecharle (sic). The bandstand and the number of its sides, twelve, can be linked to Universal Harmony and Divine Perfection (the heavenly Jerusalem has twelve gates), provided they conceal a symbolic meaning. It is decorated with golden pheasants. According to the Ancients and Cuvier (1769-1832), the pheasant served as a model for the Phoenix, the androgynous bird and the symbol of resurrection par excellence. It is one of the major emblems of Freemasonry, mainly of the Rectified Scottish Rite. But also in the field of Alchemy where it represents the Philosopher's Stone. The golden Phoenix-feasant is drawn on the philosophical map of Touzay-du Chenteau dedicated to Charles de Lorraine (see above and appendix 6).

In 1848, the Freemason Louis Jehotte sculpted a standing Charles de Lorraine . The statue should have adorned the great basin of the Park or La Place Royale. In the end, it was Godfrey of Bouillon, the other "King" of Jerusalem, who won the competition.

Note that Charles de Lorraine holds a manuscript or a map (of the Park?) in his right hand and that this map is completely unrolled at his left foot. Appendix 4: The Golden Fleece at the entrance to the Park?

Just in front of the main entrance to the Parc Royal is a trophy of arms placed on the balustraded wall that connects the Hotel de Grimbergen (Place Royale, 10) with its neighbour the Hotel Errera (Rue Royale, 14). It is almost on the site of the apse of the former Palatine Chapel of the Palais de Coudenberg (Coudenberg Palace), which housed the Treasury of the Golden Fleece before it was transferred to the Heraldic Chamber in the 1780s (see plan on note 7: the chapel is marked with a cross). The carved group depicts a cuirass decorated with a sword, spears and axes (francisque), a shield and a club. On the left is a helmet with a laurel wreath and the head of an oak-leaved dragon. The whole is surmounted by a sign with the inscription "PATRIA". The shield with a head25 evokes the aegis of Pallas Athena (Minerva), the half-sister of the god Hermes. The lunar goddess of Wisdom and War was the protector of the argonauts who set out to conquer the Golden Fleece. On the same sculpture, the dragon who defended the access of the precious fleece is asleep. This is evidenced by the laurelled helmet that crowns it and the oak leaves that surround it. This oak tree from which the Golden Fleece was hung. On the right is the club of the god Hercules who accompanied the argonauts on their journey. Hercules is the tutelary god of the Maison de Lorraine (House of Lorraine). Through his twelve works, he is also associated, like the conquest of the Golden Fleece, with the realisation of the Great Alchemical Work. A goatskin, linked to the symbolism of Athena, is perhaps to the left of the club.

It is not impossible to make a connection with the grade of the Chevalier Bienfaisant de la Cité Sainte (Order of Knight-Masons Elect Priests of the Universe), which is part of the Internal Order of the Rectified Scottish Rite. Their trophy of arms is described as follows: "consisting of a breastplate pierced by a spear, surmounted by a helmet, shield and an antique sword, and a white scarf [...] placed diagonally on the breastplate; on the breastplate shall be a cross of Order engraved or raised in a hump." Love of the Fatherland (PATRIA) is the first "military" virtue of this chivalric grade... To complete the picture, the two lions at rue Royale 6 form an astonishing couple face to face. Watching the Place Royale and its Passage des Colonnnes (destroyed), i.e. the profane world, one lion is roaring. The second looks impassively at the oblique driveway of the Park.

A trophy forgotten in the Impasse du Borgendael adopts a similar style to the one I have just described above (entry sometimes possible through the courtyard of the BELvue museum). But its symbolism is striking: a huge owl and the Gorgon of Athena are in the centre of the trophy and the Greek helmet decorated with rams (Quest for the Golden Fleece?) is topped by a sphinx whose presence here seems incongruous. The allusion to the Egyptian Mysteries, to the secret (of the sphinx) or to Isis is probable. The scales of Justice are shapeless, which

25 The old man of the aegis bears a strange resemblance to the "Mouth of Truth" of Rome who used to cut off the hands of all those who lied. Putting his hand in the mouth of the effigy was considered a subtle form of initiation. It could only be recovered intact if one was profoundly honest and virtuous: eminently Masonic themes in the 18th century. See film "Roman Holiday" (1953). could echo the pediment of the Palais de la Nation centred on the notion of Justice (see p. 30). The observer also notices a lictor's bundle, a closed book, a manuscript on the right, a sphere or globe, a torch (?), a sundial, a sword... The face of the goddess Pallas Athena seems to have been replaced by that of a monster: a frog (an alchemical symbol?) or more than likely the tree trunk (oak) where the dragon was guarding the Golden Fleece. One can only be troubled by the similarity of the trophy and the commemorative medal of the bicentenary of the Grande Loge de France struck in 1936 (helmet with rams). The place allowed the Minister Plenipotentiary to go directly from his residence to the choir of the St. James church. His coat of arms was probably under the trophy (now former King Albert II's monogram). There was also a fountain decorated with lions and suns. In this cul-de-sac is now the Grand Serment Royal et de Saint-Georges des Arbalétriers. Its museum occupies the former cellars of the Coudenberg Abbey. They are located exactly under the choir of St James and has a banqueting hall. Finally, at the beginning of the Rue Ducale, a lion, roaring more than the one in the Rue Royale, looks at the West. The disfigured trophy of the Palais des Académies shows a sheep's head attached to the base. Further on, one can see vases where the ram has replaced the lion. Still in Rue Ducale, opposite the Place du Trône, two children raise their arms in sign of victory. Was this the end of the Golden Fleece Quest? This could date from the mid-19th century, a period when the symbolism of the Quartier Royal seems to have been reinforced. Appendix 5: The Starhemberg Residence and the Golden Fleece Treasure in the axis of the Park

On the Place des Palais, Guimard had planned two mansions, one of which was intended for the Minister Plenipotentiary of Austria, the present Grand Salon Blanc of the Palais Royal (illustration: we can see the Chambre héraldique, Heraldic Chamber, at the back, rue Bréderode). Ideally, they should have been inaugurated in the summer of 1783. If he had not returned to Vienna in May 1783, Starhemberg would have had the pleasure of admire every day the Parc de Bruxelles, "his masterpiece" and "a delightful spectacle for the man who thinks" according to official letters of the time. A park that was perhaps for him alone the Garden of Adam (Eden), the Lost Paradise, the return to the Golden Age if one refers to the Prime Minister's first names (Georges- Adam)... Wasn't the current Place des Palais named rue de Belle-Vue? As for the Heraldic Chamber and its "treasure" of the Golden Fleece, it was built between 1784 and 1785. It consisted only of a simple ground floor. Beyond it was to be a vast building which, seen from afar, would have appeared to have been built on top of the Heraldic Chamber itself. The latter housed the "Cross of the Oath", a reliquary with an octagonal base which held a fragment of the "True Cross". It was on this Cross that knights and officers took their oath when they were admitted to the Order of the Golden Fleece. According to the Golden Legend, the Cross of the Crucifixion is closely related to the Tree of Life and the redemption of Adam's original sin. It is a symbol of the regeneration of mankind. This is why the iconography sometimes depicts the skull of the first man at the foot of the cross. The central axis of the Park (the Path of Light?) would therefore have been marked by the Treasure of the Golden Fleece or the Philosopher's Stone, the Elixir of Long Life, the octagonal basin (Fountain of Youth and Resurrection), the obelisk of the round basin (Champs Élysées where the virtuous taste the rest of the Blessed) and finally the pediment of the Palais de la Nation and its crowning of the virtuous Chosen One whose soul is immortal (see p. 29). Here, Virtue can be synonymous with Knowledge and Vice Ignorance.

In 1803, Godecharle placed there a priestess of Isis (MRBA)

Isis: commemorative medal of the centenary of the Amis Philanthropes (1898) Appendix 6 : A Philalèthe sponsored by Charles de Lorraine ?

On October 30, 1775, an original who called himself Touzay-du Chenteau (1741-1788) dedicated to Charles de Lorraine La Carte philosophique et mathématique (see BNF Gallica) with an Illuminist, Alchemical and Kabbalistic Masonic vocation. It was published in very rare copies. At once a philosopher, alchemist, mathematician and expert in kabbalistic sciences (sic), du Chenteau was a follower of the Philalèthes (literally the Friends of Truth), an elite circle founded in 1773. It is an emanation of the influential Parisian Lodge Les Amis Réunis (1771). The Occultist Academy was created in 1775. In search of the absolute Truth, this Rite has the vocation to gather in its library all that concerns Freemasonry and more widely the "occult sciences". According to Claude-Antoine Thory, this map would reveal "the great mysteries" of the Elus Coëns, from which the Rectified Scottish Rite was partly inspired. Remarkably in itself, one of the engravings represents Charles de Lorraine as an Imperator decorated with the Seal of Solomon26. Its face, particularly the characteristic shape of the mouth, and the Roman uniform evoke the statue of the governor inaugurated in Place Royale on 17 January of that same year 1775. The figure allegorises the "red sulphur", either the Phoenix (present on the map) or the Philosopher's Stone. Du Chenteau and Charles de Lorraine were almost neighbours in the Schaerbeek countryside (commune of Brussels): the alchemist lived in the castle of Borcht and the prince regularly resided in Monplaisir.

According to BNF Gallica, the map is an astonishing example of "graphic esotericism". "The author wants to illustrate two major ideas. Behind the different religions there is a single "perennis philosophia", a primordial tradition to which the study of the Kabbalah and symbols can give us access. All the components of creation and life are linked by subtle but very real links. Hence a vast network of analogies and correspondences that breathe and maintain the dynamics that animate and sustain the world.

This great and complex composition thus reveals the correspondences and links that Hermetic-Kabbalistic thought believes it can establish between the constellations of the zodiac, the angelic hierarchies, the divine attributes of the Kabbalah, the seven heavens of antiquity, the seasons, the parts of the human body.Two asterisks mark Touzay-du Chenteau's additions (notably the drawing opposite) but also the Masonic columns Jakin and Boaz with pomegranates, the pointed cubic stone, Wisdom, the zodiac, the sacred tetragrammaton, etc. So was Charles de Lorraine a follower or sympathizer of the Philalèthes? The grandiloquent dedication enhanced by the prince's coat of arms and the approval in due form of Limpens might lead one to think so...

26 The model of the design is found in the Philosophia Reformata of M.D. Mylius (1622). Source : L'Alchimie : contribution à l'histoire de l'art alchimique, Jacques van Lennep, Crédit Communal, Bruxelles, 1984, p. 214. Still, there is a tangible link between the Prince of Starhemberg, designer of the Park, and Les Amis réunis: his nephew Charles de Hesse-Rheinfels de Rotenburg was a member of Les Vrais Amis réunis as well as of L'Heureuse Rencontre in Brussels.

Remarkably, Chancellor Kaunitz in Vienna, an eminent Freemason and supporter of the ideas of the Enlightenment, had married a Starhemberg (Marie Christine Ernestine). It is worth noting that it was the Kaunitzs who sought a beautiful alliance with the prestigious Starhembergs whose family, together with Jean Sobieski, had saved Vienna and Europe during the siege of the Ottomans in 1686. This may have led to a relationship of aristocratic pre-eminence and authority between the "Brussels" Starhemberg and Kaunitz, who was Chancellor of Vienna and perceived as the most influential figure in the Austrian Empire. He was also an associate member of L'Heureuse Rencontre. Appendix 7: The Royal Park "in the highest heaven".

Curious as it may seem today, Governor Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his wife, Archduchess Maria Christina, who had succeeded Charles de Lorraine, applied for and obtained "Brabant naturalisation" in 1786. The aim was to win the favour of a people who were becoming exasperated by Joseph II's plans for brutal reforms. To celebrate the event (and surely the Park), they invited the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard (1753-1809) to demonstrate a balloon flight over the Parc Royal on 10 June 1786, and also on Sunday 25, the day after Midsummer's Day. The intrepid man had just succeeded, not without difficulty, in crossing the Channel.

The balloon rose on the side of the Rue de Louvain to fly over the Parc Royal, the Place Royale and the Porte de Namur. It was perhaps the perfect opportunity to celebrate the spectacular flight over the urban jewel of the Prince of Starhemberg, completed by his "Brethren" Albert of Saxe- Teschen27. This is the story that appeared in the Gazette des Pays-Bas on 12 June 1786:

"M. Blanchard, a French physicist, pensioner of H.M. Très-Chrétienne, had the honour the day before yesterday of making his 18th balloon experiment here, in the presence of L.A.R.". [Their Royal Highnesses], and a countless multitude of peoples, both from this city and from the neighbouring countries. He surprised the attention of the most learned spectators with his excellent manoeuvre. He took off from the garden of the suppressed Annonciades [religious order], and following first the direction of the wind, which was about North, passed over the Park, greeting everyone with his pavilion, on which was the armories of our august Governors. He repeated several times his manoeuvres, depending on the circumstances, notably by letting a lamb hanging from a parachute, descending beyond the gates of this city, known as the Porte de Namur [...] Finally, Mr. Blanchard glided for some time, as if he had wanted to retrograde, L.A. [Their Highnesses] having left the said gate, he had the honour of greeting them again, and then went down to the territory of Osmal, near Oudergem [...] Back in town, L.A.R. and the public gave him an inexpressible welcome."

For the anecdote, the airship rose into the air, just a stone's throw from the headquarters of the aristocratic Lodge L'Heureuse Rencontre, which had its headquarters in rue Notre-Dame-aux- Neiges at Antoine van Marcke de Lummen. The Union was also welcomed there. And very close to the Lodge Les Vrais Amis de l'Union which had its headquarters in the present rue Henri Beyaert (formerly 4 rue de l'Orangerie). More precisely, he took off from the garden of the Annonciades convent, quoted in the article in the gazette, whose order dedicated to the Virgin Mary, considered idle and useless, had just been suppressed by Emperor Joseph II and the convent transformed into barracks (1785).

The hero of the day, the aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard, was an assiduous Freemason. Less than a year after the Brussels festivities, he presented himself at the Lodge Saint Louis Saint Philippe de la Gloire (Nancy in Lorraine): "Although he did not have his patents, he was enthusiastically welcomed because of his great fame.", says a memorialist of the Lodge. On 18 June 1787, he took part in the celebration of Saint-Jean d'Été (June, 24th), which at that time was still an obligatory celebration for all Freemasons. After having received an abundance of compliments and tributes, it was the law of the genre, Jean-Pierre Blanchard launched a scale model of his balloon at the end of the banquet, dedicating it to... "Grand Architecte de l’Univers" (Great Architect of the Universe)! (The Supreme Being)

27 Both were members of the Lodge Aux Trois Aigles in Vienna. Appendix 8: Plan of the Brussels Park by Joachim Zinner (1780, north-facing)28

Symbolic East

• + Lodge Les Vrais Amis de l'Union (1782)

Pediment of thePalais de la Nation Justice and Virtue

29 Obélisk

bassin

roundabout (engraved plan) Godecharle’s monument – Truth

45° angle

octagon Charity

shallowss - Madeleine

Place Royale + Starhemberg residence

Palace Charles de Lorraine + rotunda

Saint-Jacques + Passage of the Columns

+ Heraldic Chamber Golden Fleece

Symbolic East

+ Lodge Les Amis Philanthropes (1798) • Our Order has as its essential bases religion, virtue, benevolence [Charity] and love of Truth. Rectified Scottish Rite, Apprentice Ritual

28 Xavier Duquenne, Le parc de Bruxelles, CFC-Éd., Brussels, 1993. Zinner's plan shows that the park (in dotted green, length of the central axis) forms a square, 2 by 2 and 3 long. A virtual diagonal would link Les Vrais Amis de l'Union, the entrance to the Park, Charles de Lorraine and Les Amis Philanthropes (now the Conservatoire de Musique). 29 Location for the obelisk. The kiosk with the "phoenix", symbol of Harmony, was erected here in 1841. In 1847, a guide indicates the presence at the roundabout of a Truth sculpted by Godecharche. Main sources

Xavier Duquenne, Le parc de Bruxelles, CFC-Éd., Brussels, 1993 Arlette Smolar-Meynart and André Vanrie, Le Quartier royal, CFC-Éd., Brussels, 1998 Christophe Loir, Neoclassical Brussels, CFC-Ed., Brussels, 2009 (reprinted 2017) Paul de Saint-Hilaire, Brussels, Mille ans de mystères, Rossel, Brussels, 1978 Jean van Win, Bruxelles maçonnique : faux mystères et vrais symboles, Cortext, Marcinelle, 2007 (reprinted in Télélivre, Bruxelles, 2012) Jacques Dubreucq, Bruxelles 1000, une histoire capitale : volume 7, chez l'auteur, Bruxelles, 1999 René Le Forestier, La Franc-Maçonnerie templière et occultiste aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, Éd. A. Faivre, Paris, Aubier-Montaigne, 1970 Archives Générales de Belgique CEDOM llustrations :

See below: Apprentice journeyman's rug published in the 'Ordre des Francs-Maçons Trahi (Gabriel-Lous Pérau, 1742)30 p. 16: Direction des Monuments et Sites de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale p. 20: Eve Izquierdo (lions and trophy of the Impasse du Borgendael) Annex 3: http://kioska.musik.free.fr/Bruxelles-Capitale/Bruxelles-ville/Bruxelles-ville09.jpg

30 Reproduced by René Le Forestier, La Franc-Maçonnerie templière et occultiste aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, Éd. A. Faivre, Paris, Aubier-Montaigne, 1970, p. 1081. Symbolism of the pediment of the BrusselsPalais de la Nation

- What are the seven virtues of the Mason? - Faith, hope and charity which are the main ones; justice, temperance, prudence, the seventh is still unknown to me.

Rectified Scottish Rite, ritual to the grade of Master

History and description

On 24 August 1779, the Prince of Starhemberg laid the foundation stone of what would one day become the Palais de la Nation of Belgium31. It was completed in 1783 according to the plans of Guimard, the French architect of the Place Royale and the Park lined with mansions. The majestic pediment in neo-classical style with six columns is located on the north side of the Royal Park, in the exact extension of its central axis. Spring of 1782 the Freemason Gilles-Lambert Godecharle32 begune The bas-relief (zoom twice to see details) that allegorises "Justice punishing the Vices and rewarding the Virtues" (La Justice récompensant la Vertu et punissant les Vices)33.

31 A revealing detail in my opinion: the prince demanded to inaugurate the palace with a trowel, a compass and a hammer, all in gilded copper. These are the three tools that stand before the Venerable Master in the grade of Apprentice of the Rectified Scottish Rite. Generally speaking, they are linked to the Venerable Master of the Lodge and to the East. Let us recall that Starhemberg was a member of the Strict Observance (SOT) which was associated with this particular Rite. For the Strict Observance, "punishment and reward are the great principles of the Order". Quoted in La Stricte Observance Templière avec ses deux manuscrits datés du XVIIIe siècle, Rouvray, Les Éditions du Prieuré, 1994, p. 26-29. By chance, it was on 24 August 1312 that all the goods of the Order of the Temple were transmitted to the Knights of Malta and partly to the Teutonic Order, whose links with the Strict Observance are obvious. 32 Les Vrais Amis de l'Union was originally part of the Grand Orient de France. From its foundation, the Lodge had its seat in the rue de l'Orangerie, the present rue Henri Beyaert, which is located at the back of... Palais de la Nation! Godecharle, who probably had his sculpture workshop there at the same time, was noticed as a "visitor" (Masonic sense of the term) in December 1792 and joined the Lodge in July 1793: the time when the armies of the French Revolution were staggering the Austrians. Was the close collaboration between Prince Starhemberg and Godecharle the result of the latter's initiation into a German Lodge during his long stay in Berlin (Potsdam)? Indeed, from 1775 to 1777, the sculptor was a boarder of the Prussian King Frederick II. 33 Curious coincidence, a ritual of Kadosh Knight (ca. 1800) contains the following formula : " - Who will punish vices and reward virtue? " Answer: " - The Great Architect of the Universe alone." Overall, the composition reads in this order: Justice under a radiant niche occupies the central position. It is accessed by three steps. To its right, the positively marked side, are the Virtues, all of which are represented by a woman: the Chosen One thanks to his virtue and the Love of God, Temperance, Prudence, Charity and Hope. The Wisdom (Minerva-Athena) who makes the presentations is an exception since she is not a Virtue in the theological sense of the term. To the left of Justice, Strength (i.e. Fortitude), which is a cardinal virtue. For Thomas Aquinas, Strength- Fortitude (or firmness and constancy) is the condition of all virtue. It is probably for this reason that it is the only cardinal virtue to be found on the left side of Justice. Religion, Faith or Clemency, sits before Strength or Fortitude. Further on, the Vices (discord, hypocrisy, fanaticism, etc.) - not to be confused with the seven deadly sins - are chased away by a man brandishing a torch. Is it Prometheus, the thief of fire, who offered Light to Humanity, or the new regenerated Adam? Does he not hunt a woman with a snake (Eve)?

The motifs of the bas-relief are of ancient or medieval inspiration. Justice is the main figure. She sits beside the scales and holds a sword, her traditional attributes. With her right hand, she is holding a laurel wreath, immortality to a "Great Chosen One". But like Eros, the Chosen One is equipped with an arrow: he could therefore also be the incarnation of the Love of God and its corollary Virtue or, in a purely Masonic context in the 18th century, the "Lover of Virtue". All the more so as it is a young woman, fully clothed, who represents her. Whereas Eros is a naked young man, or even a child (Cupid)34. In this case, the arrow would symbolise the exchanges between heaven and earth or the eternal power of God's Love. The whole scene reminds of the Last Judgement in medieval iconography. Indeed, this Justice is not that of men: it is not blindfolded because God sees everything and is infallible in his judgement. It is the supreme Judge who grants the gift of Salvation through Grace.

Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom recognisable by her helmet, announces to Justice the arrival of the Chosen One or the virtuous Lover who has taken the form of a winged Victory. As I said, the presence of Minerva-Athena in this allegory is unusual. All the more so as the pagan goddess occupies a higher position in relation to the theological and cardinal virtues.

To the right of Minerva, two of the four cardinal virtues (Justice, Strength, Temperance and Prudence) and two of the three theological virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity). Here is Temperance with the hourglass and a bridle. And in front of it is Prudence, whose right arm is surrounded by a mastered snake. Further on is Charity accompanied by children, such as the one in the Royal Park at the end of the sloping alley leading to the square of the same name. This is one of the fundamental virtues of a Christian, but also of a Freemason in the sense of charity and universal brotherhood. In the corner of the bas-relief there is an oil lamp, symbol of the immortality of the soul and of eternal Light35 and a young woman in a seated position carefully reading a book. The other three are closed. They are undoubtedly the Gospels, with John's book remaining open. Or an allusion to Knowledge. She is said to be one of the five Wise Virgins associated with Hope (a theological virtue)36. The young girl strangely turns her back on the scene imagined by Godecharle.

Source : Jésus dans la tradition maçonnique, Jérôme Rousse-Lacordaire, Desclée, 2003, p. 162. 34 The winged figure could also allegorise the Faith or Love of God. To read St. Augustine: "You cannot love a thing until you believe it exists. But if you believe and love, by acting well you can also hope." It seems, therefore, that Faith precedes Charity, and Charity precedes Hope. As in the bas-relief. And the Epistle to the Ephesians (2:8) tells us: " By grace you are saved through faith. And this does not come from you, it is the gift of God." In the 18th century, Jansenism (gift of divine grace) influenced a significant part of Freemasonry in our country. 35 Between the lighted lamp and a book, Godecharle engraved on a perfectly smooth stone his name and the year 1782 ("Godecharle me fecit"). On the other hand, the Vices are pushed back to a heap of rough stones. 36 Matthew, 25:1-13. To the left of Justice, the seated figure places his hand on the truncated column and the tilted scales37. This would be an allegory of Faith, Religion or Clemency. All the more so as her chest is adorned with a luminous Delta and she holds a book (the Bible) in her left hand. This isosceles triangle evokes a symbol of Freemasonry as a divine creative Principle, fire and light. In so far as Godecharle's Delta includes the Eye of Consciousness or the Great Architect of the Universe (The Supreme Being). From an urn comes out a flame sometimes associated with the allegory of Faith. The Clemency, for its part, is most often represented spreading from the foot, placed here at the foot of Justice. With her right hand, she tips the scales ot the balance (overloading iwith olive or laurel branches according to tradition). The Clemence often has her face veiled and her knee bare and bent. Logically, it is she who tips the scales of Justice, whose rigour she attenuates. But, as I repeat, the hypothesis of an allegory of Faith cannot be ruled out38.

The Strength, or Fortitude39, stands on her back, recognizable by the mace she carries, as in the case of the Mantegna Tarot Blade.

The Vices (or the reprobates) are relegated to the right corner. At the bottom of the allegory, one discovers an inclined crown, that of Charles de Lorraine who had just passed away (1780) or of the Habsburgs, the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant and the club of Hercules, the mythical hero of the House of Lorraine, but also the argonaut or the tutelary god of alchemy40, all in an astonishingly inferior position. Is this a disguised political message added during a renovation undertaken after the end of the Ancien Régime?

The original project included two statues more than three metres tall with corner overmantels on the pediment: the Law and Nemesis, the Goddess of Divine Vengeance. Franz Joseph Janssens, Godecharle's unfortunate competitor in the call for tenders from the government for the pediment, was to take care of them as compensation, but they were never exhibited in the place intended for them. Or ever realised... Curiously enough, no one has looked into the symbolism of the huge leafy branch at the bottom of the frieze which emerges as a signature of the monumental ensemble. It is probably a palm branch, symbol of resurrection and eternal life. More certainly the palm of Minerva-Isis. In fact, the representation of Minerva is often associated with the palm of Victory and the Egyptian cult of Isis makes the palm the symbol of Eternity. In the Metamorphoses of Apuleius, Minerva is confused with Venus of Paphos, Proserpine and Ceres of the Mysteries of Eleusis. Generally speaking, the Roman goddess is assimilated to the great Isis and Athena. But at what point was the palm tree inserted into the composition, the last heavy restoration by Godecharle himself dating from 1820? No one can say at this stage of research. The fact remains that "phoenix, the bird of resurrection" is also translated as "palm tree"! Moreover, Minerve aux Trois

37 The official version says that Constancy (Fortitude) and Religion surround Justice. Authors have given the composition the title "Allegory of Justice", "The Judgement of Solomon", etc. 38 Clemency could be associated here with the Virgin Mary, the merciful one. Or, even better, to the goddess Isis, who is often depicted veiled: the curl of hair highlighted by Godecharle would be an additional clue. During Napoleon's visit in 1803, the same Godecharle placed a priestess of Isis in the former Starhemberg residence, which was located on the axis of the Palais de la Nation (see Appendix 5). In the Rectified Scottish Rite, the cardinal virtues are presented in the following order: Justice-Clemency (Apprentice), Temperance (Fellow Craft) and Prudence (Master). Either in the sense of the composition. Strength or Fortitude, the cardinal virtue isolated on the bas-relief, is associated with the 4th grade. Note that the three Masonic Pillars, Strenght-Wisdom-Beauty, are represented by Godecharle if one accepts that Beauty is the manifestation of divine Justice. Is not the Supreme Being plenitude and perfection? The ritual of the Master in the Rectified Scottish Rite of 1782, the year in which the pediment was finished, indicates that the sword (Justice) is "the perfect emblem of the power that every Master must exercise against vice in order to make Religion and Virtue reign". 39 The motto of the grade of Master in the Rectified Scottish Rite is: "I draw my strength in silence and hope in God" (free translation from the Latin "in silentio spe fortitudo mea"). It is also, again according to this Rite, the strenght necessary to practice the other three cardinal virtues. Hence perhaps its developement by Godecharle. There are also two subliminal virtues. They appear on the pediment: Wisdom (Minerva) and Intelligence (Divine Justice). 40 The twelve works of Hercules would correspond to the operations of the Great Work. Palmiers is the name of the Prince of Starhemberg's Lodge, the designer of the symbolism of the entire Royal Park and the protector of Godecharle. This Lodge came under the Strict Observance. According to André Kervella, until the period of Nazi persecution, it possessed Hund's diary. At the time of the construction of the Park and the future Palais de la Nation, the Strict Observance was under the influence of Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, who tried to synthesise his own rituals and the more rudimentary Germanic ones. At the Convent of Willhemsbad (1782), the year in which the pediment was completed, the Scottish Rite Rectified according to Willermoz was imposed on the Strict Observance. It had the particularity of being imbued with the Gnostic doctrine of Martinès de Pasqually, founder of the Order of the Elus Coëns.

Allegory of Truth There is a sketch of this pediment in the shape of a broken shaft hidden in raised bushes, to the north- east of the Park. It can be reached by a path. This is the Godecharle monument, which was created by the Freemason Thomas Vinçotte (1881). The work is said to be entitled Allegory of Truth. The quest of a Mason consists of searching for his inner truth in spite of difficulties and even disillusionment. The "Clemence" is not visible in it. Or it is veiled41. Moreover, it only appeared in the second project of the pediment42.

Final details of the bas-relief of the Palais de la Nation. The laurel wreath, the balance and the axe of the beam are gilded. Justice and Clemency of God or Religion (according to the official description) lay their hands on a truncated column. This is the main symbol of the grade of Apprentice in the Rectified Scottish Rite. "Adhuc Stat", the sentence attached to it, means that the Order of the Temple has been struck down, but is still standing thanks to the Strict Observance. The urn from which a flame comes out would indicate that the spirit of the Order of the Temple never dies 43 or that the soul is being purified. In a non-Templar but Christian Masonic context, the truncated column would show that, in spite of his Adamic decay, man can still hope by regeneration for reintegration into the primordial unity (Eden).

To be complete, it is useful to specify that the Chrysopoeia of the Lord attributed to Raymond Lulle already evoked the importance of the Virtues, but only in the context of Mystical Alchemy. This detail is not insignificant when we know that the future Palais de la Nation on rue de la Loi was exactly in the axis of the Heraldic Chamber which conserved the prestigious Treasure of the Golden Fleece. In 1749, Hermann Fictuld's alchemical treatise Aureum Vellus (The Golden Fleece) was published in Leipzig. In the years 1750-1770, a German paramasonic current, such as the

41 I cannot certify the accuracy of this title often given to the monument of Thomas Vinçotte. It is reminiscent of a sentence from the grade of Apprentice to the Rectified Scottish Rite: 'The veil that covers our mysteries can only be lifted before you as your intelligence will pierce it". And a second sentence: "To arrive at the truth through the practice of virtues." 42 The pediment has often been renovated and modified. In 1810 and 1820 by Godecharle himself (in 1820, part of the pediment had collapsed following a fire). By the Freemason Guillaume Geefs in 1860-61, then in 1883 and 1898. Around 1960, a heavy restoration altered its elegance and beauty. Does the pediment of Vinçotte give the symbolic key to the Park, just like the plan of the monument to the children of Godecharle? 43 The funerary urn with a flame appears in the Internal Order of the Rectified Scottish Rite. Golden Rosy Cross, close to the Strict Observance to which Starhemberg and the governor Albert of Saxe-Teschen, successor of Charles de Lorraine, belonged, linked the Argonaut Quest to the search for the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Long Life44. For his followers, the precious Fleece was the raw material prepared for the Work, as well as the final result. It was distinguished only in purity, fixity and maturity (see Appendix 4).

"Grant to our zeal a happy success, so that the Temple which we have undertaken to build for Your glory, being founded on Wisdom, decorated by Beauty and sustained by the Strength that come from You [God], may be a dwelling place of peace and fraternal union, a refuge for virtue, an impenetrable rampart to vice, and the sanctuary of truth [...]."

Rectified Scottish Rite, Ritual Prayer at the grade of Apprentice45

44 In 1775, the Golden Rosy Cross moved to Vienna, which became one of their main centres of influence. At the time, the Freemasons, and more particularly the Austrians, were engaged in alchemical operations. The idea was widespread among them that the transmutation of base metals into pure gold was reserved only for initiates and that it had once made the fortune of the Knights Templar. As Emperor François I and probably his Brethren Charles de Lorraine thought. When it was created, the Strict Observance had cherished the hope of recovering all the goods of the Order of the Temple! Before the Convent of Willhelmsbad (1782) put an end to this chimera. Disturbing fact: on the death of Charles de Lorraine, the alchemical texts written in his own hand were given to Starhemberg. Since then, no trace of them has been found! Source : Charles-Alexandre de Lorraine, Gouverneur général des Pays-Bas autrichiens, Europalia 87 Östereich, Bruxelles, 1987. 45 Would the Park and its Godecharle monument (illustration) be this "sanctuary of Truth", only for those who seek it, and the pediment of the Palais de la Nation "an asylum for Virtue"? Sketches of the pediment

first sketch, not retained, of of the pediment by Godecharle46

second sketch, close to the original (detail)47

46 Compared to the selected project, all the virtues are to the right of Justice. Clemency, Faith or Religion are absent. Only men represent the vices. An imperial eagle replaces the crown. The beam of the lictor is highlighted. The fringes of a carpet announce the palm branch of the concrete version. The Vices are pushed back to a dungeon. This bas-relief recalls the phrase from a Masonic catechism (c. 1750): "Dig dungeons for vices and build temples for virtue, preferring in all things Justice and Truth and advancing on the path of Wisdom and Knowledge". In a purely Masonic framework, Virtue is Knowledge and Vice is ignorance. 47 The sword of Justice is almost invisible. The balance is hardly apparent. The fringes of the carpet have disappeared. In 1820, following the fire of the Parliament, Godecharle profoundly modified his work, making it almost impossible to reproduce the project he had drawn to perfection. Source : Luc Somerhausen, Willem Van den Steene, Le Palais de la Nation, Éd. Sénat, Bruxelles, 1982. The Park of Brussels seen from the symbolic East

Dissatisfied with the approximation of the reproductions of the Park and the Place Royale which had proliferated since 1777 (sic), the Government ordered "the tax officers of Brabant to be careful to stop the flow of these drawings and not to grant any permission for the engraving and sale of such representations, without having first informed S. A. the Minister Plenipotentiary, Prince of Starhemberg." This fact alone confirms his crucial role in the design of the Royal Quarter. Source: Guillaume Des Marez, La Place Royale à Bruxelles, Hayez, Bruxelles, 1923, p. 81.

On the occasion of the visit to Brussels in 1782 of the future Tsar Paul I and his wife Sophie- Dorothée of Württemberg, the niece of Frederick II, the almighty Starhemberg had richly framed views of the Royal Quarter before and after its urbanisation ostensibly placed in the flats of his distinguished guests. The young Russian prince was a keen illuminist Christian freemason under the influence of his entourage, much to the chagrin of his mother, the tyrannical Catherine II. Source : Césarévitch Paul et les Francs-maçons de Moscou, by G. Vernadskij (p. 276 ff.)

By gaining height, and by a clever optical effect, the compass, observed from the pediment of the Palais de la Nation, draws an isosceles triangle whose apex (round basin) formed by its two equal sides is a right angle. In spite of the optical illusion that may cast doubt on the reality of this right angle, the use of a simple square confirms it! The base of the two equal sides is a slight arc of a circle (see plan of 1782 ). In this particular configuration, we can see, depending on our personal sensitivity, a square, a compass or even a Delta. Could it be a representation of the squaring of the symbolic circle (square/earth/matter-body and circle/heaven/spirit)? In any case, we are in front of a compass open at 90 degrees opposite to the Zinner design open at 45 degrees: it should be specified that the Rose-Croix jewel proposes this opening between 45 and 90 degrees which symbolizes the Mastery and the victorious Spirit of the matter. The view taken from the pediment of the Palais de la Nation thus represents a (spiritual) elevation in relation to the Park, or even its completion. This is probably not by chance. Didn't the depictions of the new park fall within the strictly codified framework imposed by Starhemberg? Note in the axis of the Park the endless perspective on the Heraldic Chamber and the treasure of the Golden Fleece48.

48 Iconographic source : François Lorent. The Park seen from the pediment of the Palais de la Nation (1778). Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles. Main sources

Luc Somerhausen, Willem Van den Steene, Le Palais de la Nation, Éd. Sénat, Bruxelles, 1982 Denis Coekelberghs, Pierre Loze, 1770-1830: autour du Néo-classicisme en Belgique, Crédit Communal, Bruxelles, 1985, pp. 105-107 (both sketches are taken from this catalogue) Xavier Duquenne, Le parc de Bruxelles, CFC-Éd., Bruxelles, 1993 Arlette Smolar-Meynart and André Vanrie, Le Quartier royal, CFC-Éd., Brussels, 1998

The Phoenix, emblem of the Scottish Rite Rectified: engraving by Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1790-1830)

Delta on the chest of "Religion" or Isis (detail of the pediment of the Palais de la Nation The Christian esotericism of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg

The current use of the church is of course not in the least related to the content of this article, whose "action" took place in the 18th century under Austrian rule and, to a lesser extent, in the mid-19th century vidéo of St. James

The sole purpose of the initiation is to bring [the man] up from the Porch to the Sanctuary. Rectified Scottish Rite

[…] On 17 January 1776, Starhemberg and the Archbishop of Mechelen, laid the foundation stone of the future Church of St. James. It was intended to replace that of Coudenberg Abbey, which was curiously oriented north-south. According to the initial plan drawn by the Frenchman Jean Benoît Vincent Barré, the church was square and its pediment supported by four columns and not six as today. The church was to be surmounted by a dome which made one think of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (or Solomon Temple). The church was inaugurated in 1787. [...]

Symbolism of the Adoration of the Lamb in the Church of St. James

The first plans of the architect Barré already showed the pediment of the church decorated with a "Adoration of the Lamb". The sculptor Ollivier de Marseille (1769-1788) was commissioned to draw up the final version. It was destroyed in 1797 and replaced by the Eye of Providence.

Deciphering a drawing or sketch from 1777, the bas-relief depicted a lamb surrounded by two processions that may have embodied the Old and New Testaments. The Lamb dominated a Fountain of Life similar to that in the central panel of the polyptych of The Adoration of the Mystical Lamb by the Van Eyck brothers, which is the jewel of St Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, originally dedicated to St John. This is why this polyptych is placed under the protection of the two St John, the Baptist and the Evangelist, the presumed author of The Revelation (of the Truth of God). In French Revelation translates into Apocalypse. The Lamb on the pediment of St. James is the continuation of the one lying in the choir on the Book of the Seven Seals. It symbolises Christ, his sacrificial death and resurrection. The ensemble refers to the Eucharist, the "Sacrifice of the Mass", the title of the bas-relief chosen by Ollivier's commissioner. The Lamb is the divine light - as in the case of the radiant golden cross of the Campanile of St. James - of the New Jerusalem which has replaced the (Solomon) Temple:

"No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Rev. 22:3-5)"

Let us stress here that the church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg is oriented towards the rising of St. John of Winter (the Evangelist), the day that marks the time when light begins to take precedence over night or darkness. It was an obligatory feast for the Freemasons of the 18th century.

Still on the pediment, the octagonal fountain from which the gushing fountain of life allegorises the New Jerusalem itself ("Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, Rev. 22:1"). It is synonymous with the Tree of Life. Its central location indicates that only those who have been baptised will participate in the Redemption through Christ's sacrifice; they will enter eternal life on the Day of Judgment. Original sin will be erased and they will be reintegrated into their Edenic nature. The notion of the Chosen One and of reintegration plays an essential role here. It is also one of the the messages of the Rectified Scottish Rite.

Finally, the "Lamb of the Revelation" in the St. James church perhaps echoes the "Last Judgement" on the pediment of the Palais de la Nation, rue de la Loi, at the end of the Park. The loop of the Royal Quarter, this sacred space of Brussels separated from the secular world by porticoes (among others, the Passage des Colonnes), would thus be completed:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (Rev. 22:13-14)"

"Here is the Lamb of God... »

The church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg occupied the highest point of Brussels intramural (Place Royale). Like the New Jerusalem of the last day, which will be situated on the top of a mountain. Did it, with its Lamb of the Revelation49 lying in the choir and its Redeemer Lamb on the pediment, play the role of Mount Zion, that mythical place located west of Jerusalem? Religious tradition situates a significant number of facts related to the Old and New Testament in this place. Thus, the first pilgrims associated the "Holy Sion" with the site of the Last Supper (the Cenacle), highlighted in St. James, or with the site of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles on the day of Pentecost. The Jews venerated the legendary tomb of King David there... This sacred

49 In the Church, The Lamb lying down, not triumphant, refers to this passage in Revelation (5:12): “Worthy is the Lamb [Christ], who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” The Christ-Lamb will open the seals one by one to reveal all the mystery of Humanity saved by his sacrifice. It was Charles of Hesse, high dignitary of the Strict Observance, who dictated this symbol of the New Jerusalem and the Lamb on Mount Zion to founder of Jean-Baptiste Willermoz of the Scottish Rectified Rite. Brussels peak could also evoke Mount Tabor and the transfiguration of Christ before his three chosen apostles, with Saint Andrew replacing his brother St. Peter on the attic of the church50. But he more probably allegorises the Temple Mount (of Solomon), Mount Moriah, the present site of the Dome of the Rock, which makes Jerusalem a Holy City. This is where Abraham's sacrifice would have taken place. It is here that the dead will present themselves on Judgement Day. The Temple Mount, or the "Mountain of the Lord" according to Christian tradition, would also the equivalent of the Mount Golgotha of the crucifixion. By simple analogy: both Abraham and God are ready to sacrifice their son to help fulfil the divine plan51.The presence of an "Adoration of the Mystical Lamb" on the initial pediment (illustration)52 - whose official name was "The Sacrifice of the Mass" - would support this seductive hypothesis.

The question of whether St. James is a symbol of both Christian and Masonic symbolism will not be settled in this article. It is even likely that it never will be, since the Rectified Scottish Rite, imbued with theosophy and Gnosis, and closely linked to the Strict Observance, has always affirmed the Christian character of its rituals conceived in an ecumenical sense.

Artist's view (?) of the pediment of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg after François Lorent, 1778 (Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles, inv. L. 1900-60)

50 In this context, the presence of St. John at Patmos, the presumed author of the Revelation, at the entrance to the sanctuary and his alter ego posted on the attic is noteworthy. The Revelation (which means "Supreme Revelation") and the New Jerusalem play an essential role in the Rectified Scottish Rite, principally in the grade of Maître écossais de Saint-André. 51 The cemetery in Philadelphia (USA,,1855) called "Mount Moriah" (video) has a Masonic enclosure: it is called "the circle of St. John" or "the Masons Circle". Obelisks are abundant. 52 The bas-relief of the pediment in 1778 . The original is in the Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles. The fumigations (the altar of perfumes or holocausts?) are more reminiscent of the Temple of Solomon. The fidelity of the representation is not guaranteed: it is probably only a project. The Lodge as a beehive in the Quartier Royal

Let us close this eschatological parenthesis. It would be a pity, however, to conclude on a white transaction the interpretation of a church with such an unusual layout and decoration inspired by the Temple of Solomon as it was conceived in the 18th century. The defenders and opponents of the masonic symbolism of the Parc de Bruxelles have in the same breath focused on the person of Charles de Lorraine, who was governor general of the Austrian Netherlands at the time of the design of the Royal Quarter project. The question was whether or not he belonged to Freemasonry. Even if there is no tangible proof, it is likely that this is accurate53. In any case, he was surrounded by "Brethren": his friends the Prince de Gavre and the Marquis du Chasteler, Chamberlain of the Court and Venerable Master of the elite Lodge L'Heureuse Rencontre open to European members of all obediences, the Duke d’Arenberg, Grand Bailiff of Hainaut, the Prince de Ligne, Marshal of the Imperial armies, the Duke d’Ursel, Military Governor of Brussels, Ferdinand Rapedius de Berg, Amman of Brussels54, private counsellor to the government but also immediate neighbour of the Church of St. James, Pierre de Reuss, public prosecutor of Brabant, Count Joseph de Ferraris, marshal and cartographer, the architect Claude Fisco, Count Joseph Murray, of Scottish origin, commander of the imperial troops of the Austrian Netherlands, Jean- Balthazar d'Adhémar de Montfalcon, French ambassador and resident of the Place Royale98. But also his secretary Jean-Baptiste Cordier, his doctor, Jean Guillaume van Leempoel, his regular painter Jacques-Joseph Lens, as well as Pierre Van Maldere, his Master of Concerts, and the Lorrainian Pierre Gamond, both very influential head valets! Generally speaking, St. James was perceived as the protector of Freemasonry in our provinces. Was he not the godfather of the daughter of the Marquis de Gages, the founder of the Grande Lodge Provinciale des Pays-Bas autrichiens and Chamberlain at Court?

Let us look at the Austrian leaders in Brussels. Succeeding Charles de Lorraine, Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen was one of the high dignitaries of the Strict Observance. He had taken the name of the Order "Eques A Tribus Stellis Coronati" (Knight of the Crowned Three Stars)55. His confidant, General von Miltits, was also a member of the Strict Observance. Under his government (1781-

53 Illustration: anonymous and perhaps posthumous (early 19th century) portrait of Charles de Lorraine. Note the buttonhole decorated with the interlaced Seal of Solomon. This is present both on the jewel of the Maître Ecossais de Saint-André and the Royal Arch and in the Marquis de Gages' Apprentice ritual. It is also an important alchemical symbol. Source: Claire Dumortier and Patrick Habets, Bruxelles- Tervueren: les ateliers et manufactures de Charles de Lorraine, CFC-Ed., Bruxelles, 2007. On the Masonic affinities of the governor: Michèle Galand, Charles de Lorraine, gouverneur des Pays- Bas autrichiens (1744-178 0 ), thèse de doctorat 1990-1991, ULB, Bruxelles, p. 128-132. See note 3. 54 Bailiff and Bursar of Finance. Rapedius de Berg occupied the mansion designed by Guimard, which adjoined the church (now number 6 on Place Royale). The agreement signed with the abbey insisted on the maintenance of an underground (a crypt?). Paul Arconati-Visconti (1754-1821), former chamberlain to Empress Maria Theresa during the years 1776-1783 and at one time mayor of Brussels under the French regime, also occupied a mansion close to the church. It is now the Cour des Comptes. He was a member of the famous Brussels Lodge Les Vrais Amis de l'Union. As for the residence built for Starhemberg, the core of the present Royal Palace (Grand Salon Blanc), it gave access via the gardens to the choir of the church of Saint James. 55 The Duke was initiated in Prague into the Internal Order of the SOT. Chance or not regarding his Order name? There was a highly secret Lodge in Prague linked to the Rosy Cross Order, called Aux Trois Etoiles Couronnées (The Three Crowned Stars), founded by Hund in 1753. His aide-de-camp and member of the Strict Observance, Baron von Seckendorff, by taking the first mallet of L'Heureuse Rencontre in 1787 put an end to the autonomy of the famous Brussels aristocratic Lodge, in accordance with the Emperor's Edict. 1790), the architect (freemason?) Louis Montoyer had his hands free to take care of the interior and ornamentation of St. James. In this case, it is clearly a case of subordination of the clergy to the wishes of the ruling power. It is true that the abbot of Coudenberg, Gilles Warnots, had received a promotion in 1775, in the form of a mandate to the States of Brabant, as a reward for his complacency with regard to the Royal Square project.

Concerning the ministers plenipotentiary of Austria in Brussels (Prime Ministers), their Masonic connections are obvious. Count Charles de Cobenzl, for example, had a high opinion of the fabulous Count of Saint-Germain who had come to show him his talents as an alchemist in his hotel in the rue aux Laines (now the Hôtel de Mérode): "He knows everything," he said, "and he shows a righteousness and kindness of soul that commands admiration. According to his biographers, the Count of Saint-Germain was more an adventurer of the "Rosicrucian movement" at the time than a Freemason. But doubt remains. Cobenzl was a high-ranking freemason. He was the first to consider the development of a new district on the site of the Coudenberg Palace, which had been burnt down in 1731. He was the admiring protector of a young beginner who had arrived from Paris, the architect Barnabé Guimard.

As for the Prince of Starhemberg (illustration 1), he was a member of the Lodge Minerva with Three Palms (Leipzig) under the Strict Observance of the Knights Templar56. In reality, he was the one who held the power and administered the Austrian Netherlands. During the vacancy of power (1780- 1781) following the death of Charles de Lorraine, he had the upper hand. And even after the arrival of his "Brethren" Albert of Saxe-Teschen (illustration 2). The last Austrian ministers plenipotentiary, Barbiano de Belgiojoso, Count Murray de Melgum, von Trauttmansdorff and the Count of Metternich-Winnemburg were also part of it. The Prince of Kaunitz, in particular, followed the development of the Royal Quarter. As Chancellor of Austria and privy councillor to Joseph II, this anticlerical Freemason tried to prevent the coercive measures taken by Joseph II against the "Belgian" Lodges.

It is obvious that there is no written record of this possible "Christian Masonic" takeover of the St. James Church and the Brussels Park. And even if it had existed, the Prince of Starhemberg would certainly not have made it accessible to the authorities by way of an archive. For the good reason that in the 18th century, Freemasonry still had all the characteristics of a society under the watchful eye of the ruling power, especially with its Germanic branch of "illuminists "57, to which most of the Austrian dignitaries in Brussels belonged. Three papal bulls (1738, 1751 and 1776) excommunicated or implicitly condemned all those who belonged to a Lodge. In 1743, Maria Theresa, although her husband Francis Ist was a 56 The bust of the Prince of Starhemberg is illustrated with his coat of arms. A rooster is isolated: it symbolises vigilance, the rising sun (the East) and the light of God. It is also the bird of Hermes (Collection: Namur, Musée Groesbeeck-de Croix). The young Starhemberg would have been made a member of the Lodge Aux Trois Canons a few days before the raid by the police of Maria Theresa, which would perhaps explain the future prudence of the prince in the Masonic field. Source: Philippe A. Autexier, Samuel von Brukenthal: Ein Halbes jahrhundert maurerischer Präsenz, 1998, p. 129. The text is online. In Brussels, Starhemberg will send soothing reports to Maria Theresa on Masonic activities in our regions. This made her less uptight on the subject from 1773-74. Source : Paul Duchaine, La Franc-Maçonnerie belge aux XVIIIe siècle, Pierre Van Pleteren, Bruxelles, 1911. Despite his apparently elitist masonic ideal, Starhemberg was in favour of the innovative ideas of the Enlightenment: we owe him the first official school in the Austrian Netherlands, the organised help for the needy, the direction of the Theresian Academy, the will to suppress torture, the safeguarding of the library of the Dukes of Burgundy, and so on. 57 Not to be confused with the "Illuminati" who had radical political projects and whose myth of world government still maintains the most far-fetched conspiracy theories today. Here we are talking about mysticism, Gnosis and Christian Enlightenment. Freemason, did not hesitate to dissolve manu militari the Lodge Aux Trois Canons and two Brussels Lodges. With time, she moderated her position in this matter.

As for Emperor Joseph II, he did not appreciate Illuminist Masonry, sometimes delirious it is true.

He put the Lodges under State control by his decree of 11 December 1785. He had undoubtedly understood the symbolic and modern meaning of this new Royal Quarter. So he who wrote these words in obvious bad faith:

"As for the arrangement of the Park and the new Square, the counter-sense and bad taste that reigns there, together with the great expense this has caused, deserve no consideration."

The model of the Royal Quarter had nevertheless aroused the admiration of the Viennese Court. And the whole thing was built at a lower cost for the government: the City of Brussels and the surrounding abbeys had largely plunged into their treasury, to the point of bankruptcy for the Coudenberg abbey. It should be noted that after a visit to Tervuren in 1781, the emperor had destroyed the new castle of Charles de Lorraine, which he hated for obscure reasons...

A small number of people – Charles de Lorraine who died in 1780, his successor Albert of Saxe- Teschen, Starhemberg, Chancellor Kaunitz in Vienna, Godecharle and no doubt Guimard - could easily keep a secret... Besides, it was not necessary to put it down in writing where the drawing of a plan and oral transmission were more than enough for initiates bound by a solemn oath!58

Finally, by definition, Masonic landmarks in a public space are characterised by their discretion.

58 Of the 26 "Belgian" Lodges, only 3 will remain, only in Brussels, including that of Les Vrais Amis de l'Union. Proof by Les Amis Philanthropes...

Official so-called first day stamp dates 1998 commemorates the bicentenary of Les Amis Philanthropes on the theme of free thought (see. p. 6 of the study).

Gérard Alsteens is the designer of the stamp itself (right side). Les Amis Philanthropes proposed the plan of the Park (ca. 1790) surrounded by a sort of chain of union.

Screenshot of the site of the Freemason and philatelist Jean-Pol Ducène († 2019) which affirms the Masonic character of the Park59.

Below, the philatelic envelope: Parc de Bruxelles, stamp of the Lodge and cancelled stamp.

It should be noted that this type of envelope with a Masonic theme has in all cases a symbolic illustration on the left side.

59 Jean-Pol Ducène: author of the reference work Une apologie de la thématique maçonnique, Le Club 92, Erquelinnes, 1998. Les Amis Philanthropes signed the preface of the second autographed edition that I consulted, that of CEDOM (Library of the Grand Orient de Belgique, book rating B6334). Two copies of the stamp of Les Amis Philanthropes were pasted on it by the author. This stamp is not described in the book: it is likely that it was issued shortly after it was released in bookstores. By way of summary...

I reproduce here the frontispiece of the Manuel maçonnique ou Tuileur des divers rites de Maçonnerie published in 1820 and 1830 by Vuillaume, a "veteran of Masonry" as he likes to say himself! Compared to the frontispiece of the 1820 edition, the author added hieroglyphics, nine stars and nine light beams surrounding the sun. This drawing is remarkable as far as my study is concerned.

The sun (or God), the obelisk, "that fixed ray of sunlight", the pyramid, the sphinx, the palm tree and the goddess Isis remind irresistibly Godecharle's obelisk, which was never placed in the round basin of the Brussels Park (the 1776 plan evoked a pyramid, cf. note 7). At the bottom left, the frontispiece shows the "Chosen One" who appears on the pediment of the Parliament of the Nation. He has wings, as in Godecharle's second sketch and the current pediment (see. p. 29). He comes out of a tomb pointing to the heavens with his index finger because his soul is immortal. The Temple, the Tables of the Law, the Lamb lying on the Book of the Seven Seals of Revelation, the seven-branch candlestick and King Solomon are to be linked with my article on the church of St. James on Coudenberg. Finally, the screw of the compass coincides with the centre of the circle of the cubic stone depicted in the lower right corner.

PowerPoin t presentation by Pascal Pirotte: pdf showing details. On Masonic-inspired gardens in Europe

Günther, Harri und Volkmar Herre, Gärten der GoetheZeit, Edition Peter Lang, Leipzig, 1993 Cazzaniga G.M., Giardini settecenteschi e massoneria : il giardino di memoria, in Id. ed., Storia d'Italia. Annali 21: La Massoneria, Einaudi, Torino, 2006 pp. 120-39 Curl J. S., The Lanscape Garden and Freemasonry, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, CXVI (2003) pp. 83-126 Curl, J.S., The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry, an Introductory Study, Batsford, 2002 Hajós G., La Franc-maçonnerie et le jardin anglais du XVIIIe siècle avancé en Autriche, Studies on Voltaire and Eighteenth Century [=SVEC], vol. 265, Oxford, 1989, pp. 1503-15 Olausson M., Freemasonry, occultism and the picturesque garden towards the end of the eighteenth century, Art History 8, 1985, pp. 413-33 Reinhardt H., L'influence de la Franc-maçonnerie dans les jardins du XVIIIe siècle in Massoneria e architettura, in Cresti C. éd., Bastogi, Foggia, 1988, pp. 87-94 Svirida I., Le jardin naturel et la Franc-maçonnerie, SVEC, vol. 263, 1989, pp. 311-13

On Masonic-inspired gardens in France

Baridon M., The Garden of the Perfectibilists. Méréville and the Désert de Retz, Tradition and Innovation in French Garden Art. Chapters of a New History, Dixon Hunt J.-Conan M. eds., Pennsylvania U. P., Philadelphia, 2002, pp. 121-34 Baltrusaitis J. et Mosser M., Jardins en France 1760-1820 : Pays d'illusion, Terre d'Expériences, Caisse Nationale des Monuments Historiques et des Sites, Catalogue de l'exposition, Hôtel de Sully, 18 mai-11 septembre 1977, Paris, 1977 Cendres J. et Radiguet Chl., Le désert de Retz : paysage choisi, Stock, Paris 1997 et rééimpr. Éd. de l’Éclat, Paris, 2009 Salmon J.et Mosser M., Le jardin de Méréville, Éd. de l’Yeuse, Paris, 2004 Constans Martine, Bagatelle dans ses jardins, Action artistique Ville de Paris, 1997

List kindly provided by Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire, Professor of Modern History at the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis

Read about the symbolism of the obelisk and the sphinxes – on line in French

Jean-Marcel Humbert, Les fabriques égyptisantes entre exotisme et ésotérisme dans Histoires de jardins : lieux et imaginaires, dir. Jackie Pigeaud et Jean-Paul Barbe, Puf, Paris, 2001, pp. 181-201 Jean Fricke, Le prince Charles-Joseph de Ligne, franc-maçon, dans Nouvelles Annales, Prince de Ligne : tome 16, Librairie Honoré Champion, Paris, 2003, p. 40-74 Helmut Reinhardt, L’influence de la Franc-maçonnerie dans les jardins du XVIII e siècle , director: Anon Feliu, C. El langage occulto del jardin : jardin y metafora, Ed. Complutensa, 1996, p. 181-208 Christophe McIntosh,Gardens of the Gods : Myth, Magic and Meaning , I.B. Tauris, 2005 (author’s presentation on line in English)

Jewel of the Venerable Master in the Rectified Scottish Rite60

60 Notice the screw and its point, the open compass and inside the Grand Architecte de l’Universe (God). For the Masons of the 18th century, the compass was the most important symbolic tool because of its correspondence with the Creator. As it is also the case in the Park… Brussels plan included the future Parc Royal by cartographer Ferraris – 1777

Topographical plan of Ferraris (1777): round basin to the East and luminous park Table des matières The Quartier Royal of Brussels: a forest of symbols The largest masonic complex in the world?...... 2 The Brussels Park or the Perfect Plan? (english version to be continued – 2021.02.21).....3 Brief presentation...... 3 The main protagonists of the Royal Park of Brussels...... 4 Jean van Win's counter-arguments and my answers...... 6 Joint omissions by Jean van Win and Paul de Saint-Hilaire...... 7 Alchemical ornamentation?...... 9 Masonic geometry and structure of the Park...... 11 The claw of the Master?...... 14 Appendix 1: An avatar of Godecharle's model?...... 17 Artist's view of the obelisk of Godecharle...... 18 Appendix 2: Medals of Minerva at the Three Palms (Leipzig)...... 19 Appendix 3: The Phoenix at the Parc roundabout?...... 20 Appendix 4: The Golden Fleece at the entrance to the Park?...... 21 Appendix 5: The Starhemberg Residence and the Golden Fleece Treasure in the axis of the Park...... 23 Appendix 6 : A Philalèthe sponsored by Charles de Lorraine ?...... 24 Appendix 7: The Royal Park "in the highest heaven"...... 26 Appendix 8: Plan of the Brussels Park by Joachim Zinner (1780, north-facing)...... 27 Main sources...... 28 Symbolism of the pediment of the BrusselsPalais de la Nation...... 29 History and description...... 29 Allegory of Truth...... 32 Sketches of the pediment...... 34 The Park of Brussels seen from the symbolic East...... 35 Main sources...... 36 The Christian esotericism of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg...... 37 Symbolism of the Adoration of the Lamb in the Church of St. James...... 37 "Here is the Lamb of God... »...... 38 The Lodge as a beehive in the Quartier Royal...... 40 Proof by Les Amis Philanthropes...... 43 By way of summary...... 44 PowerPoint presentation by Pascal Pirotte: pdf showing details...... 44 On Masonic-inspired gardens in Europe...... 45 Brussels plan included the future Parc Royal by cartographer Ferraris – 1777...... 46 The author of the study...... 48 The author of the study

Joël Goffin, born in Brussels in 1963 to a French mother, is a chronicler and poet (under the pseudonym Sébastien Lise). He has published three successful literary guides on Brussels, Bruges and Brabant (Éditions de l'Octogone, 1998, 1999 and 2000).

Fascinated by the Symbolist movement and his imagination, he collaborated on the Fernand Khnopff exhibition held at the Saint-Gilles Town Hall in Brussels (1996). In 2005, he was the curator of the exhibition Georges Rodenbach ou la légende de Bruges programmed by the Musée départemental Stéphane Mallarmé (France, Seine-et-Marne). He is also responsible for the content of the site devoted to the life and work of Georges Rodenbach, whose famous novel Bruges-la-Morte influenced the film Vertigo, and the development of artistic memorial sites in Brussels, Tournai and Bruges.

The author is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Provinciaal Museum Émile Verhaeren- Musée provincial Émile Verhaeren (Flanders, Sint-Amands).