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Source - ChannelFour.Com
21:00 The Real Da Vinci Code [subtitles]
Millions of readers have been hooked on Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, but what do historians think of the book and do its major claims stand up to scrutiny? Has the truth about the Holy Grail been suppressed by the Catholic Church?
TV Guide Write-up (Link just in case, to aviod any trouble!)
In the space of just over two years, Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code has become one of the best selling books of all time. The thriller claims that Jesus Christ was married and that his decendants are alive today. Brown claims that visual proof of his theory can be found in Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper. In The Real Da Vinci Code, Tony Robinson investigates whether Brown's claims stand up to scrutiny...
CLAIM 1In The Last Supper, the figure seated to Christ's right is Mary Magdalene.
The figure looks like a woman, but it is probably Saint John, one of Christ's disciples. Artists have traditionally depicted John as an effeminate young man.
CLAIM 2At the center of The Last Supper it's possible to make out the shape of an 'M', symbolic of Christ's marriage, and a 'V', symbolic of a womb and children.
You can see alphabet soup in a painting if you look hard enough. It is also possible to descipher an 'L' in the painting. LVM were the initials of Leonardo da Vinci's patron.
Claim 3A secret society called the Priory of Sion is said to know the identity of Christ's descendants.
In the 19th-century, a French priest discovered documents revealing the Priory's existence. A French fraudster later claimed the story was a hoax, although Brown denies this.
CLAIM 4A window in St. Sulpice church in Paris has the initials P and S, proving the Priory of Sion exists.
Alternatively, the P and S could stand for Saints Peter and Sulpice.
CLAIM 5The Catholic Church covered up Christ's marriage and then re-cast his wife, Mary Magdalene, as a prostitute.
It's true that a 12-century Pope first claimed Mary was a prostitute. However, there is no Biblical evidence that they married.
CLAIM 1
In The Last Supper, the figure seated to Christ's right is Mary Magdalene.
The figure looks like a woman, but it is probably Saint John, one of Christ's disciples. Artists have traditionally depicted John as an effeminate young man.
CLAIM 2
At the center of The Last Supper it's possible to make out the shape of an 'M', symbolic of Christ's marriage, and a 'V', symbolic of a womb and children.
You can see alphabet soup in a painting if you look hard enough. It is also possible to descipher an 'L' in the painting. LVM were the initials of Leonardo da Vinci's patron.
Claim 3
A secret society called the Priory of Sion is said to know the identity of Christ's descendants.
In the 19th-century, a French priest discovered documents revealing the Priory's existence. A French fraudster later claimed the story was a hoax, although Brown denies this.
CLAIM 4
A window in St. Sulpice church in Paris has the initials P and S, proving the Priory of Sion exists.
Alternatively, the P and S could stand for Saints Peter and Sulpice.
CLAIM 5
The Catholic Church covered up Christ's marriage and then re-cast his wife, Mary Magdalene, as a prostitute.
It's true that a 12-century Pope first claimed Mary was a prostitute. However, there is no Biblical evidence that they married.