“The Last Supper” (The Da Vinci Code)
Several paintings by Leonardo da Vinci are mentioned in the novel – La Gioconda, Madonna of the Rocks and The Last Supper. Virtually all art historians dispute Brown’s claim that Mary Magdalene is depicted next to Jesus at the Last Supper. Since there were 12 apostles (including Judas), Mary’s presence would require the absence of one of them. The blue and red-clad figure to Jesus’ left is often identified as the Apostle John, who was depicted in the Renaissance as a “feminine” youth without a beard, often with long hair.
“The Last Supper” (1495-1498), Leonardo da Vinci
The “femininity” of the figure can be explained by the artistic training Leonardo received in the workshop of the Florentine School, which had a long tradition of depicting young men as handsome.
“The Virgin of the Rocks” (The Da Vinci Code)
According to Brown, the painting “Our Lady of the Rocks” contradicts the canons of the church due to the following features:
“No matter how strange it may seem, in the artist’s painting, contrary to the usual canons, it was the baby John who blessed Jesus… and Jesus completely obeyed him! Moreover, Mary was holding one hand above baby John’s head, and this movement looked threatening. The fingers looked like the claws of an eagle ready to dig into someone’s invisible head. And finally, there was another frightening sight: Uriel, right under the Virgin’s predatory bent fingers, seemed intent on cutting off with the edge of his palm this invisible head that had fallen into the Virgin’s clutches.
“Our Lady of the Rocks” (1483-1486), part of a Leonardo da Vinci painting
The author also wrote that the monk’s customers noticed this and the master had to abandon the painting and paint a new one. But historically this is not true – Leonardo abandoned the painting for unknown reasons (perhaps he could not agree on the price with customers). The dispute lasted a long time, and the court ordered the artist to complete the canvas within two years, but the artist had already left Milan. The first version of the painting is kept in the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the second in the National Gallery in London.
Antimatter Bomb (Angels and Demons)
In an article on the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) website, it is claimed that the antimatter bomb described in the book is physically impossible. According to the source, the book incorrectly describes the creation of antimatter; It would actually take billions of years to produce just one gram using current accelerators.
A still from the movie “Angels and Demons” (2009)
Colombia/Sony
The possible prototype of the physicist Leonardo Vetra in the TV series “Angels and Demons” was CERN employee Rolf Landois. In an interview with the Italian magazine Newton, he said that it would cost about 1000 trillion dollars to obtain one gram of antimatter.
Priory of Zion (The Da Vinci Code)
The author describes the Priory of Sion as “a secret society founded in the 11th century” and states in the novel’s preface that “all descriptions of art, architecture, documents and secret rituals are accurate.” In reality, the Priory of Sion was a hoax founded in 1956 by Pierre Plantard, André Bonhomme, and others. In the 1960s, Plantard created an extensive backstory describing the Order as a secret society allegedly founded by Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 and that had existed for centuries. He named da Vinci as one of the leaders of the community, and the goal was to place the descendants of the Merovingian dynasty on the throne of France and other countries.
A still from the movie “Angels and Demons” (2009)
Sony/Colombia
In addition to Brown, this hoax was presented at face value by Michael Baigent, Richard Lee, and Henry Lincoln in the 1982 bestseller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.
The Burning of Copernicus (“Angels and Demons”)
Brown’s novel claims that Nicolaus Copernicus was burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church, but he actually died of a stroke at the age of 70. British editor Tom Chivers pointed this out and received a formal response from Brown:
A still from the movie “Angels and Demons” (2009)
Sony/Colombia
“I’m doing something very deliberate and specific with these books. The idea is to mix fact and fiction to tell the story in a very modern and effective way. “There are people who understand what I’m doing and jump on the bandwagon for fun, and there are also other people who probably need someone else to read it.”
Raphael’s burial place (“Angels and Demons”)
In the novel, Brown notes that artist Rafael Santi was first buried in his hometown of Urbino. In this context, a plaque was added to Raphael’s tomb in the Pantheon with a historical summary stating that Brown was wrong and that the artist’s ashes were always in Rome.
Raphael’s sarcophagus in the Pantheon, Rome
Wikimedia Commons
Geography (The Da Vinci Code)
In the story, the “albino monk” was arrested in France and imprisoned in Andorra, and then escaped to Spain. This sounds counterintuitive: someone arrested on the French coast is unlikely to be transferred to a prison in another country.
Dan Brown during a press conference, 2014
Petr David Josek/AP
Following the scene at Temple Church in London, the characters travel by tube from Temple station to King’s College; but in reality the college is closer to Temple Church than Temple station. So on any given Tube journey they would have traveled further than King’s College. Brown also made an error in the coordinates of Rosslyn Chapel; he probably confused geographic north with magnetic north.
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.