‘New film: A Way of Light’

   

Word has just come from Bro. Francis Dumaurier about a new short film from the National Grand Lodge of France commemorating the 300th anniversary of Anderson’s Constitutions. An English-language version is available on YouTube:

RW Bro. Dumaurier is the GLNF’s Grand Representative Near New York.

     

‘The Art of Enlightenment’

   

And, speaking of film (see post below), if you happen to find yourself in Paris next Friday, maybe enjoy a screening of a Masonic-themed animated film during a conference organized by Jean-Luc Leguay. (If the name sounds familiar, Leguay paid a few visits to Masonic Hall six years ago, lecturing at the Livingston Library and in l’Union Francaise Lodge 17.) From the publicity:

The Art

of Enlightenment:

An Initiative Path

to the Sacred

Friday, April 8 at 8 p.m.

Novotel Noisy le Grand

Paris

Open to the public (€10)

RSVP here

Respectable Lodge Sons of Noah 1615, under the National Grand Lodge of France, invites you to the ultimate screening of Jean-Luc Leguay’s animated film Consecration de Loge and attend the conference given by the master.

     

‘See Eleven Beatus on Tuesday’

     
In other Jean-Luc Leguay news, word comes from Bro. Francis Dumaurier of a special night planned for Tuesday in his lodge.

Special presentation of “Eleven Beatus”

by Bro. Jean-Luc Leguay

Tuesday, June 21 at 6 p.m.

l’Union Française Lodge 17

Masonic Hall

71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan

French Doric Room, 10th floor

The lodge will host Bro. Leguay for a presentation of “Eleven Beatus,” the work created by the Master Illuminator in tribute to those killed on September 11, 2001.

Leguay, already a famous choreographer and director of several great theaters and operas in France and Italy, developed a passion for the art of manuscript illumination, a tradition dating to the eighth century. He started to study in 1980 with a hermit in southern Italy, who taught him the craft secrets of this sacred art that incorporates symbolism, colors, and geometry.

After he had learned to master the skills necessary to select the proper parchment materials, the techniques of making his own colors from organic sources, and the art of painting his subjects, the artist gradually began to dedicate his life entirely to this craft when his teacher passed away in 1990.

More biographical details, as well as splendid examples of his work, can be seen here.

“Eleven Beatus” will be on display for all to see while the artist introduces it from his own personal perspective. There will also be other masterpieces on display as well as a copy of the amazing 64-page manuscript of paintings that enlighten the theme of “Initiation.”

Bro. Leguay is a Mason at labor in Giordano Bruno Lodge 181 under the Grande Loge Nationale Française, and his presentation will be in French. All present will have the opportunity to shake his hand, view the masterpieces, and receive one of the souvenir tricolor coins which were recently minted for UF17.

The meeting will be tiled but the Great Lights will be lowered to the First Degree in Masonry during his presentation so that Entered Apprentices and Fellow-Crafts may attend.

A post-meeting three course dinner with wine will follow on the 15th floor in the French style of our very own Executive Chef, W. Daniel Monneaux, DSA. The cost will be a minimal, all-inclusive $40 (cash only) per person. Reservations for this dinner are required, and can be made with the lodge secretary here.
     

‘Illuminating Livingston Library lectures’

     

Courtesy Jean-Luc Leguay

The Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library of the Grand Lodge of New York will launch its 2016 lecture series next week with a Freemason’s presentation on manuscript illumination. From the publicity:

2016 Lecture Season Begins

Thursday, June 23 at 5:30 p.m.

with Jean-Luc Leguay,

world renowned master illuminator

The Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library of the Grand Lodge of New York is proud to announce the first lecture of the 2016 Lecture Season will be given by Approved Master Illuminator, artist and writer, Bro. Jean-Luc Leguay.

Leguay began studying the art of manuscript illumination in 1980, learning this ancient tradition from a Franciscan hermit in Southern Italy. Illuminated manuscripts are those in which there are decorations added to the text, such as along the borders, in the beginning letters of paragraphs, and in miniature illustrations.

When his Master died in 1990, Leguay became one of the few keepers of the traditional Italian knowledge. He is the first layman of this tradition, which dates to the eighth century, and he was taught the knowledge of symbolism and sacred texts, as well as the arts of colors and geometry.

Illumination is the art of giving light, and illuminators, like the builders of cathedrals, are geometers, or those skilled in the mathematics of geometry. Illumination contains a secret geometry which leads to a metaphysical understanding of the ancient art. The images convey the sacred and offer a path into the mysteries of mankind’s origin.

The main focus of the lecture will be a parchment painting by Leguay which gives tribute to those lost during the attacks of September 11, 2001.

For the Masonic fraternity, the concepts of light and geometry are central to ritual, and, as Jean-Luc Leguay is a Brother Freemason, this lecture will touch on topics that will be of great interest to Freemasons, to those who are interested in Freemasonry, to those interested in the rare knowledge of illumination, to ¬those who have a love of art, and to those touched by the tragedy of 9/11.

Join us at Masonic Hall for this first in a series of exciting and “illuminating” lectures! The free lecture begins at 5:30 p.m., and white wine will be served.

Please RSVP here. Write RSVP in the subject line of the e-mail, and your name and contact information in the body of the e-mail.