Since its 2003 publishing , " The Da Vinci Code " has get quite a hustle . Since its first appearance to glowing revaluation , it has sold more than 40 million copies in at least 44 languages [ ref ] . In addition to being a best seller , it ’s sparked a lot of controversy . It ’s a work of fiction , but it presents itself as based in fact , and many critics have raised questions about whether those facts are accurate .
It ’s no secret that the HowStuffWorks stave likes to take things apart and see what make them ticktack . Some of us are also the form of stickler who point out skill and engineering error inTVshows and movies , much to the chagrin of the people listening . But when we heard about the contention surrounding " The Da Vinci Code , " we could n’t resist picking it apart .
In this article , you ’ll pick up what go on when we ask a closemouthed , tough looking at " The Da Vinci Code " and how it expend skill , technology , fine art and story .
Trouble at the Louvre
" The Da Vinci Code " set about with a crime at the Louvre Museum in Paris . At the behest of someone known as " the Teacher , " a humans name Silas mutilate curator Jacques Saunière . After critique the evidence , Gallic investigators muster up Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon for questioning .
Captain Bezu Fache of the Direction Centrale Police Judiciaire ( DCPJ ) is sure that Langdon is the liquidator . Fache has one of his lieutenants plant aGPSdot in Landon ’s pocket . It ’s a " metallic , button - shaped disk , about the size of a ticker battery . " This dot , according to cryptographer Sophie Neveu , is accurate to two feet and allow the DCPJ cartroad Langdon ’s location , no matter where he is . In other Word :
However , real global positioning system ( GPS ) devices :
A GPS receiver uses the position of three or more satellites to determine a person ’s location – not one , as implied in the novel .
One fact explains all of these points – by definition , a GPS receiver uses radio receiver waving to intercommunicate with satellites that are 11,000 Swedish mile above the Earth ’s open . The receiving system has to have an kept agate line of sight to these orbiter , something it does n’t have indoors . Even military Global Positioning System technology ca n’t typically get a fixture on a soldier who is in dense Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree cover or otherwise conceal . Check outHow GPS Receivers Workto learn more .
The troublesome GPS dot keeps causing problems as the story moves along . Sophie order Langdon that if he throws the dot by , the DCPJ officers will see that it is no longer moving and cognize he ’s onto them . She come up with an clever architectural plan . She plant the receiver in a bar of soap , break a restroom windowpane and throws the easy lay onto the ceiling of a passing hand truck .
That seems like a skilful programme , and it knead . The officer hasten to pick up the truck , believe that Langdon is on the roof . This grease one’s palms him and Sophie some prison term . Unfortunately :
In cattiness of its inaccuracies , this move does purchase Sophie and Langdon some meter . But the misunderstanding in the Louvre do n’t stop there . watch out what else get haywire in the museum in the next section .
Museums, Medicine and Other Mistakes
Rather than escaping through their newfound window of opportunity , Sophie and Langdon follow another clue to the Salle des Etats . The Salle des Etats , also know as the Salle de la Joconde , is the Mona Lisa ’s home . Before too long , the DCPJ apprehends them there .
In another flare-up of quick intellection , Sophie move out Leonardo ’s " Virgin of the Rocks " ( called " Madonna of the Rocks " in the novel ) from the paries opposite the " Mona Lisa . " She practice the painting as a shield and threatens to destroy it by pressing her knee through the sheet . course , the apprehending ship’s officer allow her to escape for preclude the destruction of the priceless artwork .
A few critics have remarked that the scene in the Salle des Etats is inconceivable because Leonardo painted " Virgin of the Rocks " on Grant Wood , not canvass . However , a royal artistic creation restorer called Hacquin transferred the house painting to canvass in 1806 . The scene is out of the question as write for other reasons :
The farther the tarradiddle move away from the Louvre , the more it begins to focus on case in the aloof past times and artistic interpretation rather than verifiable details . But it does make several other concrete error , include its line drawing of hoi polloi with albinism . One of " The Da Vinci Code " ’s villains is a adult male name Silas , who is analbino . He has white peel and whisker as well as pink eyes with red pupils . Silas is good with a gun and drive a car at Nox in quest of the heroes .
Albinismis a genuine medical condition in which a person ’s consistence can not produce the right amount of the pigmentmelanin . Most people with albinism have very pale skin and tomentum and light - colored eyes . Very few hoi polloi with the circumstance have pink eyes , though . Most have calorie-free gloomy eyes .
Albinism prevents a someone ’s retina and ocular nerves from forming properly . For this reason , doctors useeyeexaminations to diagnose people with the stipulation . Most the great unwashed with albinism do n’t see well because their retinas do n’t function right . Although few are unsighted , many do not see well enough to drive a railcar or , as reckon in " The Da Vinci Code , " to dart people from a distance . In other words , it ’s exceedingly unbelievable that Silas could do the tasks described in the novel . you could discover more about albinism at theNational Organization of Albinism and Hypopigmentation .
Other erroneous belief are n’t as complex as the ones describe above :
Next , we ’ll take a looking at at the novel ’s discourse of art and history .
Art and History
" The Da Vinci Code " makes a lot of title about artwork and the Christian Bible . Of all the disputed statements in the book , these can be the hardest to turn out or quantify . Although some masses drop their entire lives studying and interpreting art or spiritual scriptures , both fields are by nature imprecise . It can be impossible to determine an creative person ’s literal spirit for a particular piece or the precise import behind a special spiritual passage .
According to the novel , Leonardo placed obscure symbol and codes in his house painting . For representative , the book of account makes a lot of assertion about the " Mona Lisa , " including :
Which of these point are true ? Here ’s what we find :
" The Da Vinci Code " also proposes theories about Leonardo ’s picture of the " Last Supper . " According to the book , it showsMary Magdaleneat the right hand of Jesus as well as a disembodied helping hand bear a knife . Langdon ’s account for why masses do n’t observe the picture ’s hidden significance affect " scotoma " – the brain stuff knowledge consociate with potent symbols . However , " scotoma " is a medical terminal figure that simply mean " blind spot . " A scotoma typically stems from neurological or ocular disfunction – not from exposure to a muscular symbolisation .
The fig to the rightfulness of Jesus does have a feminine appearance , but most scholars agree that it is the Apostelic Father John , who typically has a young , delicate visual aspect in graphics of the period . heedful examination of the painting also give away that the " disembodied " handwriting really belong to Peter , although he is holding the knife in a more or less awkward military position . Check outthese annotated picturesto learn more .
The novel also attain legion assertion about history and other whole caboodle of artistic production . Here ’s a run - down of some of the frequently contested points :
Finally , most of the theory in " The Da Vinci Code " about Jesus ’s relationship to Mary Magdalene , whether they had a tike , the " real import " of the Holy Grail and the history of the Catholic church get from one source . That source is " Holy Blood , Holy Grail " by Michael Baigent and others . Also known as " The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail " in the United Kingdom , this rule book is marketed as a study of nonfictional prose . However , many critics have raised serious dubiousness about its accuracy .
Check out the links in the next section for more entropy on the Louvre , " The Da Vinci Code " and other locating referenced in the book .
