Freemasonry and Kabbalah

David Rosenberg, a Freemason rabbi and artist active in the Paris of the July Monarchy (1830 to 1848), was creatively inspired by the unlikely combination of two intellectual traditions within the realm of Western esotericism: Freemasonry and Kabbalah. In his chosen medium of œuvre, Rosenberg innovatively combined Masonic and Kabbalistic visual and textual traditions, such as Masonic tracing boards and general symbolic charts, the Torah ark architecture, the designs of mizrach table, and the Kabbalistic tree.

In Freemasonry and Kabbalah: The Masonic-Kabbalistic Art of Rabbi David Rosenberg, Peter Lanchidi uses Rosenberg's remarkable Masonic-Kabbalistic artworks to provide insight into how Kabbalah was perceived and utilised within Freemasonry, and how the Jewish visual heritage of Eastern Europe and Kabbalistic traditions were integrated into Western Masonic science and art. Lanchidi's extensive research on Rosenberg's œuvre and its reception history conducted in over one hundred archives, collections, libraries, and museums across fifteen countries on four continents, will ultimately lead readers to a deeper understanding of cultural exchange and cross-fertilization in nineteenth-century Europe.

Richly illustrated and historically contextualised, this book meets the growing scholarly and public interest in the visual dimensions of Western esotericism.