The Masonic Society 1427 W. 86th Street, Suite 248 Indianapolis, IN 46260-2103
Masonic Treasures
A
lmost as ubiquitous as the places George Washington slept are the statues of America’s most famous Mason sculpted by New York City artist Donald De Lue (1897-1988). This massive bronze was commissioned by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana in 1959; upon completion it was dedicated to the City of New Orleans, and it stands before the Main Public Library. Visitors to the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia have been greeted by its twin. If his style looks familiar, it may be because De Lue’s many other Washington sculptures are found in well known Masonic and other historical sites. His 9-foot bronze of Washington at prayer was a gift from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania to the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge in 1967. Its twin is found in George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey. De Lue’s other Masonic Washingtons can be seen at the AASR’s National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts, and the Masonic Home and Hospital in Wallingford, Connecticut. Others are located at Mariner’s Church in Detroit, in front of the Indiana statehouse in Indianapolis, at the site of the New York World’s Fair in Flushing, New York, and in Lansing, Michigan. But his work was not limited to George Washington and other historical figures. De Lue specialized in Biblical, mythological and esoteric subjects, from Eve to Icarus to “The Alchemist,” which is found at the Chemistry Building of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. - Marc Conrad
TMS_Summer_2009.indd 36
7/20/09 5:23 AM