Ok, I'll admit it. I read The Da Vinci Code. My inner historian kept screaming, "Where are your footnotes?" Somehow, I just don't think it's fair to write a work of fiction and claim that it's all based on fact; if you're going to make that claim, you should be willing to back it up with proof.
The verdict? Poorly written gnostic drivel. Planet Envoy's critique covers some of the religious & historical inaccuracies. As an art history major, I can safely say that his interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's work is pretty off-base, as well. A huge part of his argument rests on the assertion that the figure to the left of Jesus in the Last Supper is Mary Magdalen, rather than John the evangelist. The evidence for this? The figure looks somewhat feminine. First, Leonardo painted with a unique formula of tempera paint on plaster, and it didn't hold up well. This painting has been repainted and restored multiple times of the centuries. Very little of what we see is actually what Leonardo painted. Second, there is at least one other painting of a young man (John the Baptist) who also looks quite feminine.
Sigh. Ok, back to work now. Maybe I'll have time to track down other problems later. But probably not.
Posted by rachel at January 7, 2004 01:08 PM
