From Peyrolles the line through Point X intersects the parallel at an angle of 85°. It was an angle which I had seen before in a painting by Poussin, in which the staff of the shepherd on the right is at an angle of 85º, just as the line from Peyrolles to the Secret Place is. Could it be really true that Poussin had painted his picture on the basis of the Blanchefort-geometry? It would be too fantastic if I could find out.
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It took me months to discover how Poussin had worked but I succeeded. Poussin had not only used the pattern in the way it was "placed" on the map but had linked it as well with a second version by means of the 60º- line. All this only fits in with the "enhanced" version of the painting, which, as a result, is in the proportion of 3:4. It is possible that in later times the painting had been shortened to conceal the Secret. |
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In order to compose the staff of the shepherd on the right, Poussin had used a mirrored version of the pattern. The real "Point X" coincides with the middle of the three (three?!) fingers on his right hand. |
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On the painting (left) the "Rose Line" runs throught the carvings on the tomb. The shepherd on the right points to it. In a mirrored version of the painting (right) this shepherd points to the real "Rose Line". |
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From the point where the "Rose Line"intersects the bottom edge of the painting there is a line which runs parallel to "Peyrolles-Serres". It is along this line that Poussin has painted the staff of the shepherd in the middle. This staff is at an angle of 70°. |
Clearly Poussin was an insider. Was David Teniers an insider as well?
David Teniers.
Of course I very much wanted to know if the painting by David Teniers had also been composed with the help of the Blanchefort geometry. Small differences with the "English" copy (see Part 3) gave me a clue of how this painter had worked.
Taking the shepherds’ staffs as a starting point I found after some time the pattern used by the painter. Also in this painting the painter had used a double pattern, both of the same size. In one pattern the extension of the staff (leaning against the stone), ends up, at the top edge of the painting, so as to form the side of the above mentioned copy. For me this was of course the ultimate proof that my theory was right. The other pattern had been composed by Teniers in such a way that "Point X" is situated exactly on the bottom edge of the painting.
 Basic lines |
 Pattern 1 |
 Pattern 2 |
 Both patterns |
One thing is now clear: David Teniers knew about the Secret. Would the painting of Celestinus V also……?
Celestinus V.
Of course it was more than a guess that the third painting too had been composed with the help of the Blanchefort-geometry. The pattern which I also found here eventually (again starting from the staffs) was a double version but more complicated than the previous two.
The painting is full of incongruous details, such as various oblique pillars and a "hanging" leg of the throne. These legs end in the form of rosettes. The line through its centres proved to represent the "Rose Line". Thanks to this line I was able to draw in the the first pattern.
The two staffs on the left are part of the second pattern. The left point of the platform on which the throne is placed, is a "cardinal point", which is the key to this second pattern. So far no one has been able to discover who is the maker of this painting, but he was clearly an insider too.
 The staffs |
 Basic lines |
 Pattern 1 |
 Pattern 2 |
 Both patterns |
My next step was to study the documents.