The Masonic Image of Napoléon
Napoléon Bonaparte died on May 5, 1821. The 5 feet, 7 inches of his height was normal for his time, but the British newspaper cartoonists had him shown as much smaller for political reasons. His famous "hidden hand" images were a broadcast signal of his links to the Freemasonry Brotherhood. The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries , by Jacques-Louis David, 1812. Below, when he was younger. The following drawing demonstrates the "Sign of the Master of the Second Veil," (7th Degree Mason) from Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor , 1866. View other "hidden hand" examples, here and here . John W. Booth, whose membership among Masons is today mostly expunged. George Washington, whose Freemasonry membership is celebrated. "The evidence in favor of a Masonic initiation previous to Napoleon’s assumption of the imperial title is overwhelming: The initiation took place in the body of an Army Philadelphe Lodge of the — Ecossais — Primitive Rite ...