Father C.R.C. is to be considered not only as a personality but also as the personification of the system of spiritual philosophy which he is reputed to have established -- which helps to explain why no authentic portrait of Father C.R.C. has ever been discovered. In the Secret Tradition in Freemasonry, A. E. Waite reproduces a portrait which is presumably that of the illustrious adept, but Mr. Waite is careful not to commit himself as to the authenticity of the painting. Others less conservative have accepted the picture as genuine. In the Lisbon Museum there is a famous painting by Albrecht Durer which bears a strong resemblance to the supposed portrait of Father C.R.C. in Mr. Waite’s book. The reading table, the folds of the cloak, the hat, the beard, the position of the head, the finger touching the temple, are all nearly identical. The Durer painting was made about A.D. 1500, and is an idealistic conception of St. Jerome. Durer also engraved several other poses of this saint, all with the reading table and skull placed near him.

The picture above is intended not as a portraiture but as an idealistic conception of the spirit of Rosicrucianism -- the sage seated at his table, copying from the secret Book of Nature, its pages lighted by the candle of the illumined mind and resting against a human skull. The Great Book of the Rose Cross lies unclasped upon the table, beside it an hourglass, intimiating that in time all shall be revealed. The true Rosicrucians were an organization of initiates and adepts. Only when he lives the Rosicrucian life can the disciple ever discover the secrets of the sublime Fraternity.