Fulcanelli, Master Alchemist, Le Mystère des Cathédrales, Brotherhood of Life, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1990.
Les Mystere des Cathedrales was first published in Paris in 1925. “Fulcanelli” is a pseudonym and the identity of the author himself, or herself, has remained murky. Fulcanelli’s focus is on Notre Dame de Paris. Chartres is, strangely, mentioned only in passing. Fulcanelli believed alchemy and the gothic cathedrals to be closely interconnected. He describes in detail the more than a dozen bas-reliefs set into the narrow “porches” that comprise the entrances into Notre Dame and how rich these are in alchemical symbolism. According to Fulcanelli, alchemists played a central role in the creation of the 12th-century cathedrals. They were, he tells us, intended to be vessels, crucibles, for the transformation that could occur within.
For Fulcanelli, the bas reliefs on the entrances to Notre Dame are veritable texts of alchemy. He notes too the statue of a 12th-century alchemist high on the north tower among the gargoyles gazing out over Paris. The peaked Phrygian cap on the head identifies him as an initiate. Fulcanelli finds one of the origins of the word “gothic” in the old French term “goetic” meaning “magic.” To Fulcanelli, gothic art was magic art. The cross is the alchemical symbol for the crucible. In the alchemical vessel matter first dies so it can then be “revived, purified, spiritualized, and transformed.”
In the 12th-century cathedrals of the Ile de France, Fulcanelli observes, there is not one image of the crucifixion. These marvelous creations, he maintains, were temples to life, not monuments to death. Chartres is among the most ancient places of pilgrimage in all of Europe. Medieval alchemists used to meet at Notre Dame every week on Saturdays. Fulcanelli adds that when they were created, the French gothic cathedrals looked very different than they do today:
“In the cathedrals everything was gilded and painted in vivid colors. As proof of this we have the words of Matryrius, the fifteenth century bishop and traveler. This author says that the porch of Notre Dame of Paris was resplendent of the gates of Paradise. Purple, rose, azure, silver, and gold were to be seen there. Traces of gilding may still be seen at the top of the tympanum of the great portal. The church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois has preserved its painting and its blue vault starred with gold.”
That the entrances and interiors of the gothic cathedrals were originally brightly painted has been affirmed by the art historians presently restoring Chartres. Parts of the ribbing of the vaults at Chartres have already been repainted ivory white. Traces of the original paint colors have been revealed on the interior walls.