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Errant Artist

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You are here: Home / Photography / Philadelphia Masonic Temple

Philadelphia Masonic Temple

On a recent trip to Philly, I had two “must do” things on my list. One was to see the Marcel Duchamp magnum opus, Étant donnés, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The second was to tour the Masonic Temple. The temple is the headquarters of the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania and Masonic Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging. It is a spectacular sight to behold.

Egyptian Hall was finished in 1889. It is decorated in the style of the Nile Valley. Twelve huge columns stand on the four sides of the room, surmounted by capitals peculiar to the Temples of Luxor, Karnak, Philae and others.
The style of Norman Hall, finished in 1891, is Rhenish Romanesque.
The main window depicts Holy Ground and the Burning Bush when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. At the top is a traditional rose window, with the many emblems of the Masonic Fraternity.
Renaissance Hall is decorated in the Italian Renaissance style, and was finished in 1908.
Corinthian Hall is decorated in strict conformity with the principles of Grecian classical architecture.
Gothic Hall has all the characteristics of the architectural style for which it is named.
The main window depicts Holy Ground and the Burning Bush when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. At the top is a traditional rose window, with the many emblems of the Masonic Fraternity.
Renaissance Hall is decorated in the Italian Renaissance style, and was finished in 1908.
Corinthian Hall is decorated in strict conformity with the principles of Grecian classical architecture.
Ceiling of the Benjamin Franklin Room.
Oriental Hall was decorated in 1896, in the Moorish, or Saracenic, style. The colors and decorations were copied from the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, a 13th Century castle.
Gothic Hall has all the characteristics of the architectural style for which it is named.
Ionic Hall, decorated in 1890, takes its name from the style of architecture from Ionia, where King Ion reigned in Asia Minor.

Straying from the proper standards.

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