It is claimed in the novel that Leonardo da
Vinci included cryptic messages in his paintings and designs and that these
included celebrations of the sacred feminine. It is claimed in the novel that Leonardo da
Vinci included cryptic messages in his paintings and designs and that these
included celebrations of the sacred feminine.
1. Is this evidence for
Peter's rivalry with Mary Magdalene? Peter's hand is slicing through the air in
what appears to be a menacing fashion. Metaphorically, Da Vinci might be
intending to comment on the struggle that took place to control Jesus's
religious movement after his death. There is some evidence in the Nag Hammadi
codices to suggest that Peter was jealous of Mary's important role in
the continuance of Jesus's mission.
2. According to The Da Vinci
Code, as well as some other sources, the letter 'M' represents either Mary
Magdalene or 'matrimony' (from the Latin matrimonium), or both.
3. Is the figure on Jesus's
right really the apostle John... or is it a woman? Was placing this Mary
Magdalene figure on Jesus's right - the most important position in relation to
the figure of Jesus - Leonardo's vision of where she ought to have been?
4. Note the disembodied hand
hanging in the air. Does this have a symbolic meaning? Is it an image, for
instance, of Peter's real feelings towards Mary Magdalene?
5. Note that the clothing
worn by Jesus and Mary are mirror images in terms of the red and blue
fabrics.
6. The 90-degree angle
that can be drawn between Jesus and Mary Magdalene suggests a 'V'. In The Da
Vinci Code, as well as in several non-fiction sources, this is the archetypal
symbol for the vagina, chalice, womb and female sexuality.
7. Note that there is no
central chalice at the table, although people often do not notice that the
famous cup of the Grail story is missing. In the painting, each figure has
a cup of his own. It is jokingly suggested in The Da Vinci Code is
that Leonardo "forgot to include the Holy Grail".
8. In formal ritual and
ceremony, red and blue are often seen as royal colors, and their
use here could be suggesting a royal bloodline. There is some evidence to
suggest that Mary was a descendant of the royal house of Benjamin, and it
is known that Jesus was the direct heir to the royal line of David of the
House of Judah. Blue is also considered to be representative of fidelity,
spiritual love and truth.
In The Da Vinci
Code, the painting under scrutiny is The Last Supper. It is claimed that the
figure on Jesus’s right is not the apostle John, but Mary Magdalene, and that
the two central figures, the postulated Mary Magdalene and the figure of Jesus,
form the inner sides of a large ‘M’ for Mary. This enclosing ‘M’ shape is
interpreted as confirming the importance of Mary Magdalene in Jesus’s life. She
is the only woman present and, as first apostle, sits at his right hand.
It is pointed out
that there is no chalice on the table, and this is interpreted to mean that the
chalice was nonetheless there… in the person of Mary Magdalene, the chalice
being her womb, the sacred Sangreal, in which she carried the bloodline of
Jesus. It is suggested that the 90-degree ´V’ sign that can be drawn between
her and Jesus is another cryptic Da Vinci device symbolising the chalice, the
sangreal, the womb of Mary Magdalene. The ‘V’ and inverted ‘V’ signs were not
uncommonly used symbolically to indicate the female and male principles.
If the figure in the
painting is the apostle John, as has been generally accepted to this point, he
is a curiously feminine figure, although young, unbearded men were often
presented in somewhat androgynous terms in the style of the day. On the other
hand, if the slender, narrow-shouldered, feminine figure had been designated
Mary Magdalene in the first place, it is doubtful whether anyone would have
queried her gender. That could leave us with a numerical difficulty, but we
have to remember that the painting is Leonardo’s creation. If he intended the
figure to be Mary Magdalene, then his placing of her next to Jesus indicates
that he considered this to be her rightful place.
Further, in terms of
this theory, it was Mary who was intended to be the founder of the Church that
would carry forward the teachings of Jesus, not Peter.
It seems doubtful
whether Leonardo was anti-Christian as is sometimes suggested. He makes many
references to God in his work. Sharan Newman describes him as being probably “a
Christian in an absent-minded way”, although he was firmly against such against
Church practices as the selling of indulgences.
It is difficult to
see the erratic, free-spirited, independent Leonardo as Master of an
organisation like the described Priory of Sion. One of Leonardo’s problems,
made clear by his phenomenal range of sketches and notes, was that he was not a
finisher. He was always too tempted by visions of his next project or the
possibilities of some invention. It is doubtful whether any project would have
held his interest for long. However, it is just possible that the mystery of a
secret organisation like the Priory of Sion – if it ever existed in the
way that Dan Brown describes – might have fascinated him for a time.
He left thousands of
notebooks filled with drawings, designs and sketches. His ingenuity was
endless, and his imagination so fertile that he designed many of the inventions
that could only be manufactured centuries later when the technology was
available.
It is true, however,
that many of the Renaissance painters incorporated cryptic elements into their
paintings. It was fashionable to do so. It was also common for them to use Phi,
the Divine Proportion (1.618) as it was called, and the Fibonacci sequences in
spatial calculations. This kind of game would have delighted a man of
Leonardo’s temperament, especially if he were introducing symbols that would
have outraged many if interpreted.
The painter, Nicolas
Poussin, a staunch admirer of Pythagoras, was one of those who enjoyed the
ancient practice of preserving wisdom through the use of geometry, and he
demonstrated this clearly in his most famous painting, Les Bergers d’Aracdie
II.
Apart from the use
of geometry in the design of their paintings, many Renaissance artists used
‘sacred’ symbols freely in their work in such ways that they were unobtrusively
part of the scene: a rose might have secret significance, usually in
relationship to the Holy Grail or the Order of Rosicrucians; and fingers held
in a certain way or touching some part of the body or face might indicate a
secret greeting or have some other meaning to those able to recognise it for
what it was.
Leonardo da Vinci
often wrote in mirror writing, but it is doubtful whether this was intended to
be cryptic as is sometimes suggested. It was too obviously simple to read. It
was far more likely that he was left-handed and found writing in this style
easy. In fact, he made it clear that he intended to publish much of his writing
at some time in the future, but – like many creative people whose minds
overflow with more ideas than they can ever work through - he never reached the
stage of compiling his written work into publishable books.
Here are the answers to the 32 most asked questions about
the Da Vinci Code
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