Andrew Gough's Arcadia

The legend of Rennes-le-Château is fraught with mystery, mistakes and misdirection. The simplest explanation is often the path least chosen, if selected at all. This flies in the face of Occam’s Razor, which stipulates - according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia - that "one should always choose the simplest explanation of a phenomenon, the one that requires the fewest leaps of logic". In layman’s terms, this translates as always look for the 600 pound gorilla in front of you first before charging into the jungle.

So where is the 600 lb gorilla in the mystery of Rennes-le-Château? Actually there might be several, but for a start, how about a tower designed by a priest; father Saunière, called the Tour Magdala, or the Tower of the Magdalene. This spectacular structure defines the village of Rennes-le-Château and exhibits several 600 lb gorilla like qualities, such as the following:

Supporting these gorilla like pillars are other facts and peculiarities, such as:

Fixed on the Grotto of Mary is a very distinctive and curious stone platform. This enigmatic structure will be the foundation of much of our analysis in this paper, as it appears to have been portrayed in various works of classical art.
The village Priest, Berenger Saunière, built his own Grotto, dedicated to Mary Magdalene, from stones collected near the region pointed to by the Tour Magdela. His grotto, before it was vandalized, pointed directly at the Tour Magdela.
Elsewhere, the village church is dedicated to Mary Magdalene.
The Church’s statues are repositioned so that the first letter of each spells ‘GRAAL’, French for Grail, when connected in the shape of an ‘M’.
The hand of Berenger Saunière is observed within the church in several places, including most notably the Altar Painting that he personally designed. It depicts a grotto with Mary Magdalene staring at an ‘X’ or cross (a sign of concealed esoteric knowledge according to Margaret Starbird, and others).
In the Altar Painting Mary Magdalene’s hands are folded in a peculiar, almost swastika like manner. In this instance, they form three X’s; a sign of significant, concealed esoteric knowledge.
The Altar Painting seems to depict buildings present in Rennes-le-Château in the background.

These gorilla like pillars that seem to shout ‘look here! And so we shall, all the while conscious of the fact that their apparent significance may merely be a product of our over active imagination. The purpose of this essay, whose core arguments have been undergone peer review on both public and private Rennes-le-Château Forums, is an attempt to examine a subset of these anomalies in considerable detail and to apply Occams Razor where possible, and to look beyond it where necessary.

In particular, we will explore one strangely overlooked facet of the mystery; the large stone platform that is fixed on the Grotto of Mary. This distinctive, curious and largely ignored stone platform, which we call the Rock of The Magdalene, seems in need of considerable analysis, given its possible significance in the mystery and its apparent representation in classical works of art. Before reviewing each of the classical painters whose works appear to have commemorated this enigmatic structure, let’s take a look at what we call, The Rock of the Magdalene.

The Rock of Magdalene in the foreground: from the Grotto of Mary
with the Tour of the Magdalene in the distance

We start with a review of the area surrounding the Grotto of Mary and the Rock of The Magdalene, which is called the Vallée des Couleurs. Studying the map below we can see that a small stream crosses the valley called Ruisseau de Couleurs.

IGN Map and Aerial photo of the location of the Grotto and the Rock of the Magdalene
Split by thé Ruisseau de Couleurs.

Corjan, a keen linguist, had historically translated the streams name as Stream of Colours, but has recently begun to consider other alternative translations. Basically, the French have an expression: un RUISSEAU de larmes COULAIT le long de ses joues, meaning the tears streamed down her cheeks. Couleurs, in that respect, could mean ‘the things that run in the sense of tears down your cheeks’. It doesn’t translate particularly well into English but we hope you get the idea: Ruisseau de Couleurs could perhaps have been intended as Stream of Tears a long time ago!

This is relevant because there is a well-known phrase in the whole enigma that speaks of the Magdalena and her tears that wash away our sins. It was once inscribed below the bas relief of Saunière’s altar and it is displayed at the bottom of what we know as the ‘2nd parchment’. The phrase states: JESU MEDELA VULNERUM SPES UNA POENITENTIUM PER MAGDALENAE LACRYMAS PECCATA NOSTRA DILUAS.

Noel Corbu pointing at Mary Magdalene's strangely crossed fingers.
Below the Bas Relief is the inscription that is identical to the last phrase of the 'big' parchment
Saunière allegedly found in his church in July 1887.

The above phrase is Latin for Jesus, you remedy against our pains and only hope for our repentance, it is thanks to Magdalene's tears that you wash our sins away. This sentence is pure heresy and must have raised many an eyebrow when it was first put on display. The power to wash away our sins is directly linked to the Magdalene’s tears, rather than to the blood of Jesus or his death on the cross. Peculiar to say the least.

There are more similarities between the bottom of the second parchment and the bas relief. Have a close look at the NOIS sign and the strange scribbling in the middle. When you mirror the image it says SION and displays the cross with a branch below an inversed ‘N’. We believe that the inversed ‘N’ means: attention, there’s a secret here. One of the members on the Back to the Source Forum brought to our attention a similarly inversed ‘N’ in a tree in a famous painting that is often related to Rennes-le-Chateau: Les Bergers d’Arcadie. Over that reversed ‘N’, in the same tree, Poussin painted the same cross, represented with a branch. Would there also be references in art to Mary Magdalene and the big square rock?

It has often been hypothesized that there were artists who possessed the secret of Rennes-le-Chateau and preserved this heretical knowledge in their paintings. However, this has never been satisfactorily proved. This discussion is an attempt to review the regions depicted by these artists and examine the possibilities. For instance, whether or not Nicolas Poussin had Rennes-le-Château in mind when he painted his ‘Bergers d’Arcadie’ is completely up for speculation. Louis XIV apparently went out of his way to find and purchase the original in 1685, when he bought the painting from C.A. Herault, a well-known art dealer. The painting adorned his private quarters for the rest of his life.

When dealing with matters related to Rennes-le-Château, one must pay special attention to the few actual facts in the story, because so much of the mystery is simply hearsay from Les Dossiers Secrets. There is no record whatsoever that Saunière purchased or ever possessed a copy of the painting or any of the other paintings he allegedly bought from the Louvre (which, according to legend included Poussins 2nd version of Les Bergers d'Arcadie, a portrait of Pope Celestine V and one of David Tenier's painting of St. Anthony). In fact, there is not a shred of evidence that Saunière was ever in Paris. Sure, there was a little glass Eiffel Tower found in Marie Dénarnaud's (the priests house keeper) possessions after she died but that tourist souvenir could have come from everyone.

So at the end of the day it is difficult to prove that the mystery of Rennes-le-Château has been commemorated in classical art. That said there are remarkable similarities in some of their works; images and landscapes that appear to be related to the enigma. The relationship between the Magdalene and a large square rock platform is one such similarity that we have found featured over and over in the work of a numerous classical painters. So let’s cautiously explore these apparent similarities a little further.

The shape of the Rock of the Magdalene is unmistakable. Its square construction and proximity to the Grotto of Mary could even lead one to believe that the setting may have been communicated and reproduced on canvas, without having viewed it in person. The shape of the rock itself is insignificant; however when combined with its position near the Grotto of Mary, we can’t help but feel we have seen this image before. The great painters were often initiated in religion and esoterica. Many resided in Rome and were supervisor of the Papal art collections in the Belvedere. It can be argued that the Vatican is not the ideal place to uncover heretical secrets. It’s perhaps less implausible than you think when you realize that the church was always an obsessive and immaculate keeper of records and many a Pope, Cardinal or Bishop was more interested in politics than eclectics.

Returning to the issue at hand, in the following section we have identified a number of paintings that appear to have made the link between the Rock and the Magdalene and the Grotto of Mary. Ever so cautiously, let’s have a look at some of those now.

Italian master Perugino began painting at the age of nine. He was one of the first artists in Italy who used oil paint, in the style of Jan van Eyck. For a number of years Pietro was an apprentice in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio. One of his companion apprentices during that period was Leonardo da Vinci. The two men therefore must have known each other well. In 1480 Pope Sixtus IV called Perugino to Rome to work on the Sistine Chapel. He produced two large frescoes by the names of 'The Baptism of Christ' and 'The Delivery of the Keys'. The first was later removed to make room for the work of Michelangelo. After 1506 he worked in Vatican City, summoned there by Pope Julius II. He was later succeeded by his best known pupil, Rafael (who became especially famous for his fresco 'the School of Athens' in the Stanza della Segnatura, the private library of the Pope).

Perugino's work is beautifully detailed and geometric in nature. In his so called Galtzin Triptych, which he produced for the church of San Domenico in San Gimignano, he exercised a startling realism for the landscape. The three panels together depict the 'V', perhaps the vessel that bore Christ's fruit while he was being crucified. Mary Magdalene stands discretely on the right, identified by her anointment jar, but has the same pose as Mary, mother of Christ. The landscape on her top-right looks remarkably like the Rock of the Magdalene. There's a lot more to say about these three panels, (like for example the hands of Mary that are folded in the three X's like the Mary Magdalene on the bas relief on the altar in Rennes-le-Château), but we'll leave that to the side for now.

Jan Van Scorel was a Dutch master who travelled extensively across Europe, and beyond. He worked under Albrecht Dürer in Germany around 1518, and is understood to have made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Jerusalem. He was an erudite man. In 1521, Van Scorel was called to Rome by the Utrecht born Dutch Pope Adrian VI. The Pope appointed him painter to the Vatican and welcomed him into the Papal apartments. Van Scorel soon succeeded Raphael as the keeper of the Papal Art Collections in the Belvedere. After the death of Adrian VI in 1523 he returned to his home country the Netherlands. There he spent some very productive decades until his death in 1562. Most remarkable was his restoration of the renowned Ghent Altarpiece (by the brothers Jan and Hubert van Eyck) in 1550. Van Scorel allegedly added the Utrecht church tower to this masterpiece, which has become shrouded in mystery and conspiracies. For instance, the Nazis believed it to be a treasure map and linked it to Rennes-le-Château, as described in the excellent book ‘Satan’s Song’ by Karl Hammer.

One of Van Scorel’s most enigmatic works is a portrait of Mary Magdalene from 1528. The dramatic rock on her left is only one of many remarkable features. There’s an old bearded man walking, reminding us of the old bearded man / woman walking across the west wall fresco over the confessional in the church of Rennes-le-Château. A man, woman and child are sitting calmly at the foot of the Rock. Mary Magdalene has Hebrew characters embroidered on the collar of her dress. Jordan Stratford and Avielah Barclay have preformed extensive research into this Hebrew text and suggested that it refers to a secret maternity.