The Masonic Art of Peter Waddell

It's becoming clear from the clues being pumped out on the Twitter page of Dan Brown's publisher that the plot of The Lost Symbol is going to involve the supposed Masonic layout of Washington, D.C. Whether or not the design of the capital was influenced by Masonic symbolism has long been debated inside and outside the fraternity. Well-respected Masons come down on both sides of the issue. Ill. Bro. Akram Elias, 33rd, the Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of D.C. believes the layout of the city intentionally includes Masonic symbolism. Ill. Bro. Brent Morris, 33rd, the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry, disagrees.

Peter Waddell is a modern artist who gave an exhibition of his Masonic paintings in 2005 entitled The Initiated Eye: Secrets, Symbols, Freemasonry and the Architecture of Washington, DC. His artwork is really quite striking, and given the title of this exhibition it's easy to see where he stands on the question of whether or not Washington, D.C. is filled with Masonic symbolism. Whatever you believe, Waddell's paintings from this exhibit are worth reflecting on, for they are themselves, without doubt, loaded with Masonic symbolism.