François-Marius Granet (1777-1849)

This French painter was well-known for his works in which he played with light in a magnificent way. Everything in his works is sacrificed to the tone. During his life he worked various periods in Rome and Paris.

In 1819, Granet was decorated by the French King Louis-Philippe as a Knight in the Order of Saint Michel. At the same time he was nominated conservator of the Versailles art collection.

Granet developed a deep interest into the history of Knight’s Templar. He painted a number of scenes about the great moments in the history of the order. In 1834 he painted what is thought to be one of his principal works: The Death of Poussin.

©2007-2008 rlcresearch.com, all rights reserved

Emma Calvé (Rosa-Emma Calvet) 1858-1942 was one of the most famous opera singers of her day. She was deeply attracted to, and a leading participant in, the thriving esoteric scene in Paris, taking as a lover one of the most renowned occultists of the time, Jules Bois. In 1894 she bought a château at Cabrières in the Aveyron region. This was said to be the place where the book of Abraham the Jew, used by the great medieval alchemist Nicolas Flamel, was hidden. A book written in 1655 by Pierre Borel made the connection: Now the book by which Flamel said he came to achieve the Great Work is that of Abraham the Jew. Many have worked to recover it… but these searches have been useless. I have nevertheless been assured by a gentleman of Rouergue called M. de Cabrières, tenant of his château of Cabrières near Millau, where I went specially to see this Monsieur, that he had the original of this book, which M. le Cardinal de Richelieu recovered a short time before his death. Allegedly, Saunière met this internationally acclaimed opera-star on one of his trips to Paris. Emma was often to be found at St. Sulpice, mystic heart of the French capital at the time. It is there that Gérard de Sède claimed they first met in his book The Accursed Treasure of Rennes-le-Château. It is said Calvé and the Abbé had a passionate affair. It is a fact that villagers of Rennes-le-Château have testified hearing a strong and melodic opera voice singing during some of Saunière’s lavish parties in the Villa Bethania. There’s no proof however.

Recording of Emma Calvé from 1907

Emma Calvé was member of a Martinist order as demonstrated by her signature on this document made in Paris on November 11th, 1892, at the cabaret “Chat Noir”. It shows her signature and “SI” or “Supérieur Inconnu”, the third degree of the Martinist Order. It is said Saunière was member of a Martinist lodge in Lyon. Calvé’s tomb in Milau shows some esoteric imagery like an iron bee. Emma Calvé is said to have been related to Melanie Calvet, the farmer girl who saw the Virgin Mary at La Salette.

The alleged relation between Calvé and Saunière was brought back into the spotlight when Patrice Chaplin published her book City of Secrets, in which she claims they knew eachother very well. Thanks to Mark Naples for the Cabrières story. ©2007-2008 rlcresearch.com, all rights reserved

Nicolas Poussin  (1594-1665)

Allegedly, Poussin’s motto was ‘tenet confidentiam’ or ‘keeper of secrets’. What did Poussin know and did he leave any clues in his work?

Young Nicolas Poussin ran away from home when he was eighteen to find refuge in Paris in the Ateliers of Flemish masters Ferdinand Elle and Georges Lallemand. In 1624 he arrived in Rome, the city he had always wanted to work in because of his love for the Italian masters. By that time he had an impressive command of the Latin language and classical literature which didn’t go unnoticed. Cardinal Francesco Barberini became his patron and master. He worked on one of the chapels St. Peter’s Basilica and painted various other works across Rome. Among his later patrons were splendid names like French Cardinal Richelieu and Cassiano dal Pozzo for whom he produced his magnificent first series of the Seven Sacraments.

Both Series of Seven Sacraments by Nicolas Poussin

In 1656 while living in Rome, Poussin received a visit from the Abbé Louis Fouquet, the brother of Nicolas Fouquet, superintendent of finances to King Louis XIV of France. From here the Abbé sent a letter to his brother describing his meeting with Poussin. In this letter he makes the following statement:

‘He and I discussed certain things, which I shall with ease be able to explan to you in detail - things that will give you, through Monsieur Poussin, advantages which even kings would have great pains to draw from him, and which, according to him, it is possible that nobody else will ever be able to rediscover in the centuries to come. And, what is more, these are things so difficult to discover that nothing now on this earth can prove of better fortune nor be their equal.’

The letter was first published by Anatole de Montaiglon in his book Archives de l’Art français (2ème série, tome II, 1862).

Nicolas Poussin died in 1665 in Rome where he was buried in the Basilica San Lorenzo in Lucina. Châteaubriand, French Ambassador in Rome, raised a monument to Poussin above the artist’s mausoleum in 1820. It carries a dedication and a bas-relief displaying his most famous painting The Shepherds of Arcadia. At the bottom there’s an inscription that perhaps answers the question whether Poussin preserved esoteric clues in his work. It states:

‘PARCE PIIS LACRIMIS VIVIT PUSSINUS IN URNA VIVERE QUI DEDERAT NESCIUS IPSE MORI HIC TAMEN IPSE SILET SI VIS AUDIRE LOQUENTEM MIRUM EST TABULIS VIVIT ET ELOQUITUR’.

This curious expression speaks about how Poussin has given his life without really dying. He is silent now but if you’re prepared to listen you can hear him speaking through his paintings.

©2007-2008 rlcresearch.com, all rights reserved

George Anson 1st Baron Anson (1697-1762)

British Admiral and wealthy aristocrat from an influential masonic family. He made his fortune capturing Spanish galleons between 1740 and 1748 in the war of the Austrian succession, the most famous one being Nuestra Señora de Covadonga, possessing 1,313,843 pieces of eight. Traveled around the world for 4 years, establishing one of the great tales of British naval history.

On his return in 1748 he commisioned a monument to be erected in the garden of his Shugborough estate for an unknown reason. Some say it’s just a love message, others that it is a treasure map to the Holy Grail. Fact is that the Shugborough Monument carries a mirrored relief of Poussin’s famous 2nd version of Les Bergers d’Arcadie, with an additional tomb on it and an enigmatic inscription at the bottom. The interest of the Anson family in the works of Nicolas Poussin is further stipulated by the portrait Thomas Hudson made of his wife Lady Elizabeth Yorke Anson in 1751. In this painting she is holding a copy of Poussin’s first version of Les Bergers d’Arcadie.

©2007-2008 rlcresearch.com, all rights reserved