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About him, in the oval glory or Vesica, we see the Tetramorph the four evangelical emblems with closely fretted wings: the winged cherub, the lion, the eagle, and the ox, figuring St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. John, and St. Luke. Above are the twelve Apostles holding scrolls and books.
Let me make this clearer. The more one examines the typical points in the Saxon, Norman, and Gothic styles of Architecture, the more clearly one sees that the Architects of the two former used circles and squares on their tracing-boards, as units for their proportions, in drawing up both ground plans and elevations, with here and there suggestions only of the Equilateral Triangle having been made use of in some of the smaller details; whereas the Gothic Architects seem to have used the Vesica Piscis almost entirely.
In the centre is the Saviour, seated, enclosed within a vesica piscis, His right hand uplifted in blessing, His left hand resting on an open book; His bare feet rest upon the border of the oval enclosure. This oval is supported by two angels, the arms which hold the upper part being abnormally lengthened.
Up to 1140 Norman Architecture held sway, having the "Square" for its unit, its greatest symbol being the Gnomon, representing knowledge; but about that time, as we have seen, arose from the study of Geometry, the head of all learning, a Mystical form having the mysterious figure of the Vesica Piscis, the true Gothic Arch, with the Equilateral Triangle enclosed as its unit, and symbolising the Trinity in Unity.
Of all regular polygons it is the simplest: its three equal sides subtend equal angles, each of 60 degrees; it trisects the circumference of a circle; it is the graphic symbol of the number three, and hence of every threefold thing; doubled, its generating arcs form the vesica piscis, of so frequent occurrence in early Christian art; two symmetrically intersecting equilateral triangles yield the figure known as "Solomon's Seal," or the "Shield of David," to which mystic properties have always been ascribed.
The Vesica Piscis, and its name, is intimately connected with the discovery, by Augustus Cæsar in the century preceding our Era, as narrated by Baronius, of a prophecy in one of the Sibylline books, foretelling "a great event coming to pass in the birth of One who should prove to be the true 'King of Kings, and Augustus Cæsar therefore dedicated an altar in his palace to this unknown God."
Every Cathedral has its Vesica Piscis, often of enormous dimensions. Geometry was synonymous with Masonry, and the very foundation of the Science of Geometry, as expounded by Euclid, was his first proposition.
In the centre is the Madonna and Child enthroned in a vesica above six saints, and surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists. The saints to the spectator's right are SS. Hermagoras, Fortunatus, and Euphemia; to the left are SS. Mark, Hilarus, and Titianus. Below, between the three windows, are six more saints, three on each side. Two different hands can be traced.
It was, at this time, depicted in the Equilateral Triangle, the symbol of the Logos, becoming thus the Masonic Word of the Middle Ages, and was probably used, exoterically, for purposes of recognition among members of the Great Building Societies, with the introduction of Gothic Architecture; but the esoteric teaching, which was known only to the élite of the Craft and not by the Ordinary Operatives, was the mystical procreation of that triangle, the doctrine of Spiritual or New Birth, symbolised by that mysterious figure which we have seen was the very foundation stone of Geometry, and therefore of Tectonic Art, the Head of all learning, and the great Secret of Gothic Architecture, called for esoteric purposes "Vesica Piscis."
These fabrications seem to have been at that time generally accepted by the masses as true prophecies, though we know now that they were written some centuries after the events they were supposed to foretell. Let us now return to the Vesica Piscis.
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