La iconografía masónica y sus fuentes

Abstract

Masonic iconography is essential part of its rites and a privileged support to transmit its doctrines, knowledge and science. Masonic Images and symbols transcends the aesthetics to enter the realm of the spirituality. Therefore the iconographic legacy that the Order has preserved is a representation of the sacred world to which one only has access through its own language: the symbolic one, which is the transmitter and foundation of its knowledge. Hence the objective of this paper is to analyze the sources in which Freemasonry found inspiration in order to understand its first and radical meaning, its natural origins and the elements it is composed of. We shall also attempt to state this iconographic itinerary as of the 18 th Century to date, which will reveal the nature of the metamorphosis modern Freemasonry has gone through since its foundation.