This is just the begining. Check back each month for more "Da Vinci Code Secret Archives" facts: codes, ambigrams, and
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Last Update 2007
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Exterior shot of the Cour d' honneur Pyramid
outside the Louvre in Paris ... Click for virtual tour of the Louvre.
Recent discovery of Leonardo's secret study, where
this mural was painted on the wall, and a rock-hewn table hid in the corner... for the cadavers
Westminster Abbey: the wild-goose chase!
Site of Tombs, Coronations
I visited Westminster Abbey site of The Da VinciCode's wild-goose chase scene while on duty overseas with the State Department.As we strolled through this gigantic labyrinth of history, I suddenly looked up and found that I'd become
separated from my tour guide.It was closing time. Dark shadows huddled in corners
ready to leap out at me as I passed. I quickened my pace, finally breaking into a run as my footfalls slapped the cold floor,
echoing at my heels.Then up ahead, a dim light winked in the darkness. And a
voice floated toward me through the must-filled air.
It was her voice, the voice of wisdom---Sophia
The light grew closer, brighter until it seemed to sear my eyes
with its intensity. I closed them tight, gasping for air in ragged breaths.
A starburst exploded on the dark screen of my eyelids.
They found me two days later, eyes glassed over and disoriented,
sitting on a bench in Hyde Park.A thin white streak ran through my dark brown
hair.
I kept repeating one word over and over like a demented fool:
Da Vinci: artist, inventor, scientist, or ... practioner of secret and ancient occult knowledge? Who hid his
knowledge in plain sight!
I'm an art lover ... the art of fine cuisine
A loaf of bread, a bottle of Chianti--and thou!
Crime and Punishment:What do Dr.Hannibal Lecter and Da Vinci have in common?Remember
the murder scene from the movie Hannibal? Author Thomas Harris did his research, too!
On April 24th 1478 Giuliano de' Medici was stabbed to death by Francesco de' Pazzi during
high mass in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. The main target of the assassination, however, was
Giuliano's brother, Lorenzo, who was stabbed in the neck but saved from a mortal wound by a friend who threw himself in front
of Lorenzo and was himself killed.
Pazzi and his accomplices were caught and hanged but
one man, Bernado di Bandino, escaped to Turkey. On the request of the Signoria of Florence he was extradicted and he
and his wife were hanged on December 29th 1479.
Leonardo witnessed the hanging and made a pen and ink
drawing with notes for the compostion of a painting: "A tan-coloured small cap. A doublet of black serge. A black jerkin,
lined, and the collar covered with black and red-stippled velvet. A blue coat lined with fur of foxes breasts. Black hose,
Bernado di Bandino Baroncelli."
Sketches of Da Vinci's Robot
His brilliant inteventions of War!!
DR. WHO'SRobot??
It was not until the late 1950's that Carlo Pedretti of the Unversity of California proposed
that the drawings on the left were for a robot. Some forty years later the Florence-based Institute and Museum of the History of Science in collaboration with Mark Rosheim, a NASA
contractor and expert in robotics, developed a "digital" version of the robot shown on the right.
There is no evidence that the robot was actually built but it was designed to sit up, turn,
bend both arms and legs and to open its mouth or visor, probably to make some kind of noise. It was dressed in a suit
of armour.
Leonardo may have intended the robot for a festival or celebration of some kind. At
Il Paradiso - a celebration held on 13th January 1490 in Milan - Leonardo was said to have built a model of a mountain crowned
by a giant egg which rotated while a fantastic series of automats representing the human race sang the praises of the Sforza
family. The egg finally opened to reveal the seven planets and figures of the Graces, the Virtues, Nymphs, Hermes, Jupiter
and Apollo.
The Adding Machine (or Ratio Machine)
In 1967 American researchers working at the National Library of Spain in Madrid
found two unknown works of Leonardo which became known as the Codex Madrid. It included the drawing on the right. Leonardo
expert Dr Roberto Guatelli saw the drawing and thought it similar to one in the Codex Atlanticus.
In 1968 Dr Guatelli made a replica from the two drawings using "his own
intuition and imagination..." in the process. The replica was put on display at an IBM exhibition with the following
text:
"Device for Calculation: An early version of today's complicated
calculator, Leonardo's mechanism maintains a constant ratio of ten to one in each of its 13 digit-registering wheels. For
each complete revolution of the first handle, the unit wheel is turned slightly to register a new digit ranging from zero to nine. Consistent with the ten to one ratio, the tenth revolution of the first handle
causes the unit wheel to complete its first revolution and register zero, which in turn drives the decimal wheel from zero
to one. Each additional wheel marking hundreds, thousands, etc., operates on the same ratio. Slight refinements were made
on Leonardo's original sketch to give the viewer a clearer picture of how each of the 13 wheels can be independently operated
and yet maintain the ten to one ratio. Leonardo's sketch shows weights to demonstrate the equability of the machine."
After a year of the machine being on display controversy concerning the
reliability of the replica had grown and an academic trial was held at Massachusetts University in an attempt to settle the
matter.
Objectors claimed that the device was a ratio machine
- one revolution of the first shaft would give rise to 10 revolutions of the second and so on. Such a machine would
not work due to the amount of friction involved.
The vote was a tie but IBM removed the replica from the
exhibition.
Continue to learn of his
strange religious beliefs!!
Headquarters of the Opus Dei in New York City ...
Check out the links below for facts on their FBI connections ....
Click and take the red pill to leave ...
if you don't have the nerve to stay!
LINKS TO SECRET KNOWLEDGE: GENERATE YOUR OWN AMBIGRAMS, LEARN THE ANCIENT SECRETS OF THE MYSTIC
KABBALAH 'S GEMATRIA(THE SCIENCE OF NUMBERS)
CREATE YOUR OWN AMBRIGRAMS! ONLINE AMBIGRAM GENERATOR!
A very old method used for encoding
the additional, intentional messages into artistic compositions is kabbalistic exegesis called gematria,
often confused with numerology. Gematria is useful because it deals with words that have numeric values (read measures), and
relates similar values to similar meanings. If we use simple Latin code of values of letters and calculate the famous title
of the painting a value of 84 is obtained:
MONA LISA = (13+15+14+1)
+ (12+9+19+1) = 84.
Another name for the painting is also
La Gioconda, or as a variant LA GIOCCONDA, which has the same gematric value:
LA GIOCCONDA = (12+1)
+ (7+9+15+3+3+15+14+4+1) = 84.
'La Giocconda' can be translated as
a 'playful woman', which is perhaps one of the reason of her peculiar smile. But her mysterious smile conceals also another
enigma, of her identity ...
circumference
of the rectangle is 2 x (18+24) = 84
The above gematric calculations are
also amplified by the composition of circles that rule the proportions of the portrayed. If the width of the painting is considered
as 1 Venetian cubit, then three circles and four circles in height equal 18 and 24 oncia respectively. The circumference of
this rectangle 18 : 24, enclosing the figure is again concealing the number 84:
circumference
= 2 x (18+24) = 84.
This number really seems to be of extraordinary
importance for this painting, no wonder since it is also a number that unveils the master himself:
LEONARDO = 12+5+15+14+1+18+4+15
= 84.
COMPOSITION
Analysis of the composition shows that
it is based on the circle that is visible on the painting as the perfectly circular shape of the top of figure's head.
width
= 1 Venetian cubit
The diameter of described circle fits
into the width of the panel exactly 3 times, and 4 times in the height of the figure, thus forming a basic Pythagorean triangle
3-4-5. The height of the board does not fit into the grid of circles, but they are important only for the figure of portrayed.
Next thing to do is to find the system
of measures that Leonardo used for the composition. The width of the painting is according to different sources ranging from
52.4 to 53 cm. This is very close to the length of exactly 1 Venetian cubit measuring 52.2 cm.
VENETIA
cm
Miglio
5000
173867
Stadio
625
21731
Pertica grande
6
208,6
Passo
5
173,87
Pertica
Piccola
4,5
156,6
Braccio
2
69,6
Cubito
1,5
52,2
Piede
1
34,8
Palmo
4
8,7
Oncia
12
2,9
Punto
72
0,48
Linea
144
0,24
Atomo
864
0,04
Decimo
1728
0,02
Venetian
system of measures
A circle,
that is the compositional module, is therefore 1 palm in radius. Every metrical
system is 'modular', meaning that smaller units are always a simple fractions of the larger, as an example: 1 cubit equals
1.5 ft, 6 palm, or 12 oncia. The width of the painting measuring three circles is 1 cubit = 6 palm = 18 oncia, while the height of the figure is 8 palm or 24 oncia. These numbers defining the composition are conveying an important message.
REBIS
This painting seems to represent a compound
- hieroglyphic image in alchemistic manner, that is none else but hermaphroditic Leonardo himself. Another surprise is concealed
in the title of the painting, which is a rebus:
MONA LISA = SOL + ANIMA.
This title is a rebis of fundamental
alchemical antimony of Sun (Sol) and Moon (Anima, soul), two basic symbols for opposing forces that are united in alchemic
genderless hermaphrodite. There are many alchemic texts concerning this subject that obsessed a lot of artists during with
philosophy inspired Renaissance.
Sun & Moon
... Sol and Lune,
the male and female, two sperms, heaven and earth, and two, as I may say, Argent vives, and out of which alone the philosophers
say their stone is made; which pitiful fellows mistake for crude mercury. But that mercury is all metals, male and female,
and an hermaphrodite monster in the very marriage of the soul and the body, which I call solution; and the putrefaction of
the philosophers. The earth of gold is dissolved by its own spirit, which you shall discover in these proportions.
If one third of the circle, that outlines
the composition, is taken for a module ( = two oncia), the ratio of rectangle that defines the figure is 9 : 12. Both numbers
are symbols for previously mentioned antinomies, for number 9 symbolizes Moon, and 12 stands for Sun. This number is also
the number of '12 compositional circles' that could parallel 12 zodiacal signs through which Sun traverses. This traditional
symbolism is also recorded by Agrippa in De Occulta Philosophia, a dictionary of magick
from 1510:
... The number nine belongs
to the Moon, the utmost receptacle of all Celestiall influences, and vertues, as also it is dedicated to the nine Muses,
as also to Mars, from whom is the end of all things. The number ten is Circular, and belongs to the Sun, after the same manner
as unity; also it is attributed to Janus, because it is the end of the first order, and from whence begins the second unity;
it is also ascribed to the world. In like manner the number twelve, because the Sun going round twelve
signes, distributes the yeer [year] into twelve moneths, is attributed to the world, the Heaven, and the Sun ...
SECRET
INSIGNIA
Templar's symbolism in Durer's engraving Knight, Death, and Devil
(see photo below)
Albrecht Durer's engravings are enigmas,
a multi layered artworks pulsating different contents, offering several possible interpretations at the same time. Some express
a deeply gnostic apprehension of the world known to Durer, some convey important historical facts, others reveal Durer's specifically
brilliant mind that could be offensive and even politically dangerous at the time. The first engraving, in the context of
three 'Meisterstiche',Knight, Death, and Devil was created
in 1513 according to the tablet in the lower left corner of the engraving. Durer's 'tablets' always look suspiciously, since
they are always bearing a hint to the content initially concealed by the artist. The date on the tablet is precisely 200 years
after the official dissolution of the Templars in tragic year 1313. Before the number 1513 on the tablet stands a mysterious
'S' whose meaning is for Panofsky obscure1. But the secret is hidden in a Greek equivalent of Latin letter S - S, Sigma with gematrical value 200, the number which alludes to the 200th anniversary
of Templar's official end.
the tablet
from the engraving bearing the inscription S 1513 AD
The most important date in the history
of the persecution of Knights Templar is Friday, 13th of October 1307, when most of French Knights of the Order were simultaneously
arrested at dawn. The memory of 13. 10. is preserved in the ratio of the main dimensions of the engraving. The dimensions
of the engraving are 25 x 19.2 cm which is almost exactly the ratio of 13:102 commemorating the 13th of October 1307. The width of the engraving - 19.2 cm - is exactly 8 inches from
Frankfurt, a measure that Durer used many times for the basic dimensions of his artworks. If the height is calculated according
to the ratio 13 : 10, a diagonal of 13 inches is obtained, which is again emphasizing a symbolism of number 13.
The main protagonists in the destruction
of the order were French king Philip IV, also known as Philip le Bel
(surely an expression of his vanity not mercifulness), and pope Clement V, the first in the
line of 'Avignon popes', vassals under French royal influence. The goal was political and religious, since Templars represented
an important political force mostly because of vast financial resources at disposal and land ownership. Practically, they
functioned as a system within a system, which is obviously irritating from the ruling position. Religiously they posed a threat
to official dogma, since the nature of their endeavors enabled them to gain a contact with various sources of knowledge, and
their belief is closer to a gnostic perception of Christianity than official dogma sustained by some questionable popes ...
Three main characters of the engraving
metaphorically represent the three players in the historic drama: Templars are represented by the Knight,
the king Philip Le Bel is disguised as Death wearing a regal crown, and Pope Clement V is concealed
in the shape of Devil.
An allusion to Le Bel's vanity is his
head wreathed in snakes, which invokes the myth of Medusa, the most famous and the only mortal of the three Gorgones. A beautiful
maiden made a mistake comparing herself to the goddess Athena who jealously turned Medusa's beautiful curls into hissing snakes.
No living being could look at her without being turned into stone. Finally, Perseus cut her head while sleeping and brought
it to Athena.
In year, 1314, the Grand Master Jacques (Jacob) de Molay was burnt at the stake in Paris thus making an apparent end
to the most prominent chivalric and initiatic order in the history of Europe. A myth claims, that before his death, Jacob
de Molay prophesied the soon end of both opponents - Philip and Clement both died the same year. Strangely, they all share
the 'letter of Death'3:
JACOB
DE MOLAY
=
106
PAPA
CLEMENT
=
106
PHILIP
LE BEL
=
106
Number 106 is also a gematrical value
of the name of Hebrew letter N, Nun, which is also the attribute of Trump XIII, Death.
NVN = 50 + 6 + 50 = 106
In accordance with Tarot correspondences
is the year when the engraving was printed, 1513, a direct signature of Devil and Death, since Devil in Tarot is XV, and Death
is XIII.
The signature on the table in the lower
left corner of the engraving consists of the letter S, date 1513
and monogram AD. If we substitute the numbers from the date with corresponding
letters: 15 into O, and 13 into N, a word SONAD is obtained. Backwardly, it is the Greek word DANOS (Danos),
meaning 'burnt', an epitaph in remembrance of the death on the stake of the Grand Master, Jacob de Molay.
Another allusion to Templars is almost
'obviously visible' underlying geometry of the inverted pentagram as described in Path
of the Adepti. One of the main accusations of the inquisition versus Templars was also 'Devil-worship' in the image of
the egregore Baphometh. The inverted pentagram is vulgarly associated as the supreme signifier of evil and works of Devil5. The last allusion to the Order of the Temple is the skull6 placed above the tablet with the date and monogram, a symbol marking an event, a memory of life and the
expression of Gnostic tradition of Templars.
Another concealed symbol of Templars
is hidden in the underlaying composition. It seems that the famous inverted pentagram is a true symbol of Templars after all.
ADAM
= EVE
DVRER = ALBERTI
It seems that Albrecht Durer was fond
of commemorating his masterpieces to some important historical event, mostly from his perspective of a Renaissance man. A
remembrance of the events that happened in 1313, particularly the end of the Order of the Temple and the murder of the grand
master of Templars Jacques de Molay, is preserved in the engraving Knight Death, and Devil (SEE PHOTO BELOW) executed by Durer,
exactly two hundred years later. Another such case of memento is The Fall of Man from 1504. The engraving represents Adam
and Eve in the garden of Eden standing before the Tree of Life entwined with the serpent. 1504 is the year that celebrates
a hundredth anniversary of the birth of the famous Leon Battista Alberti (1404 - 1472). Alberti is one of the most intriguing
figures of the Renaissance, a perfect combination of art and science seems to be the topic that interested him most. According
to Panofsky1, Durer learned, imitated, and elaborated the theory of perspective from Alberti. He wrote many books
on art (like De statua or De pictura) and science.
His masterpiece is also a treatise Ten Books on Architecture. With a bit of energized enthusiasm, ALberti could be considered
as the father of Renaissance. A very lucid analysis of one of the strangest books, mysteriously called Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
done by Liane Lefaivre2 suggests that Alberti was also guilty for this book that famous Aldus printed. A truly gnostic, he was
also capable of such wonders like Canis (The Dog) or Musca
(The Fly), and a cryptographic system that was used until WW2. However, we will try to show that Durer loved him a lot.
The
whole scenario is encoded on the small cartollino that Durer used as a signature plate
on many engravings. The most curious is the first line: ALBERT9. This is the only time that Durer used this variant of his
name, Albrecht. Art dictionaries and various catalogue entries read this as ALBERTUS, equating 9 with 'US' without explaining
why. Furtheremore, this proposition is also inconsistent with the second line where DVRER should be spelt as DVRER9 (in case
of lack of space on the tablet) or DVRERVS. The third line, NORICVS, is the first that bears the ending 'VS', furthermore
confusing this inscription. None of the three lines is consistently writting the ending 'VS', so it is possible that something
special is encoded, and the basic text is manipulated in order to get the intended values of the words. According to the simple
values of Latin letters 9 corresponds to I. Thus the inscription says ALBERTI not ALBERTUS. It is probably not a coincidence
that ALBERTI and DVRER have the same gematric values:
After both names, ALBERTI and DVRER,
comes NORICVS = 100, which is also encoding the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Alberti. Both names, ALBERTI and DVRER,
together are 67+67 = 134, the number that also manifests itself in the geometric composition. Figuratively, this number represents
a circle, a triangle, and a square, or the so called Seal of Hermes, which was during Renaissance widely used for the sacral
compositions. Durer 'squared the circle' in such manner that they both have the same area. The two interweaving triangles
(Solomon's Seal) represent a similar concept as expressed in Sri-Yantra, where the female and male principle gradually inter-penetrate,
copulate. Two Greek words relevant for the context are KOITOS,
coitus and O KOSMOS, cosmos, both having the gematric value 670, which is a synonym of 67. Like in case of Poliphilo,
an anti-hero of supposed Alberti's work Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Durer is by Alberti erotically aroused. This is perhaps
even more obvious if we consider the image of Adam in the likeness of Alberti, whereas Eve is Durer in disguise. Such a travesty
is not an exception in Durer's opus, for he transformed himself into woman also in Melencolia.
In year 1504, hundred
years after Alberti's birth, another masterpiece was completed - Michelangelo's David. This is a strange coincidence, since
Michelangelo's David andDurer's Adam share much resemblance in appearance, both venerating Vitruvian perfection of proportions,
and we can be sure that the artists were much more connected than art historians can trace. Perhaps, they both wanted to embody
the spirit of Grand Master Leon Battista Alberti for his hundredth birthday.
The main dimensions of the engraving
does not fit well into any metrical system of that time. Durer was a master of composition and in such cases a module that
'rules' this composition needs to be discovered. Main ideas and the signature of the magician are often encoded in such underlying
layer of the artwork. These are variously described by different sources3 - ranging from 194-196 mm for the width, and 251-253 mm for the height. The difference of the measurements
seems to occur, since the smaller ones measure the engraved rectangle, while the others measure the printing block, and the
difference is about 1 mm on all sides. The diagonal of the engraving is around 32 cm, which seems to be exactly one foot4. Both relations, 253x196 and 251x194 mm are very close to ratio 22:17, which seems to represent the base
projection grid. Both numbers come from Pell's Series and/or Fibonacci Numbers.
1
3
7
17
41
99
239
577
1393
...
1
4
9
22
53
128
309
746
1801
...
Pell's series are approximating a geometry of octagram
1
5
6
11
17
28
45
73
118
...
22
Fibonacci Numbers are approximating a geometry of pentagram
A diagonal of rectangle 22:17 equals
28 modules by approximation, which coincides also with a string of numbers from the fifth of Fibonacci progressions: 1-5-6-11-17-28-45
... These three numbers - 17, 22, and 28 - combined give the same idea as proposed by the interpretation of the tablet bearing
inscriptions. All three together equal 17+22+28 = 67, or a gematric signature of a magician DVRER, and dedication to master
ALBERTI. The seventh number from the Pell's progression, 45, or the sum of the width and the diagonal of the engraving, 17+28
= 45, is describing the title of the engraving:
ADAM
UND EVE = 90 = 2 x 45 Hebrew transcription of Adam = ADM = 1+4+40 = 45.
Leonardo's Religious Beliefs
The Pointing Finger
The pointing finger is seen in many of Leonardo's paintings. We
have already seen it in the Angel in the Flesh . We also see it in John the Baptist, The Virgin of
the Rocks, and in The Last Supper. Strangely, the finger also makes a less obvious appearance in the Adoration
of the Magi where it sprouts from behind a carob tree.
The question is - what does it mean? The usual explanation
is that the finger is pointing upwards to God/heaven/transendence. In fact, the pointing finger was a gesture used
in many other art works of the time. In John the Baptist the way in which he indicates himself with one hand and
points upwards with the other is said to mean "I fortell the coming of the one from above."
There is an alternative view that Leonardo was a Johannite
and a believer in the Great Heresy.
The Johannites
In the Bible we are told that when St Paul visited Ephesus and Corinth
as the first missionary in the area he found already in existence a flourishing Church of John - John the Baptist - but the
followers of John had not even heard of Jesus. Today the Mandaeans of modern Iran and Iraq have held John in special
reverence for 2000 years calling him the "High King of Light." Jesus is referred to as a "usurper" who "perverted all the
cults and turned light into darkness."
In Luke 7:18 - 23 John (who, we are told, has earlier
met Jesus and fallen at his feet) sends a message to Jesus saying "Art thou he that should come or do we wait for another?"
Shortly after this John is killed apparently to appease the whim of Salome.
Johannites believe that Christ and/or his followers killed
John and took over the church that he had created. This belief is called the Great Heresy and some say that Leonardo
held this belief.
Leonardo and the Great Heresy
The idea that Leonardo was a Johannite can be taken from
certain apparent anomalies in some of his paintings:
The Last Supper - Pointing to the belly of the third man from the left is a dagger held in a hand which
cannot belong to anyone in the picture. - "St John" - arching away to the left of Jesus has small
hands, a gold necklace and a cleavage.
- Leonardo is in the picture as "St Jude" -second from the right and turned away from
Jesus. - To the right of Jesus a man sticks his finger in the air almost in His face. This pointing
finger has been called the "John Gesture."
The Virgin of the Rocks Some of the rock formations can be seen as highly phallic. The
Christ Child is making the John Gesture.
The Adoration of the Magi In this unfinished work
the John Gesture appears disembodied from behind a carob - which tree is a symbol for John the Baptist.
Other Signs of Heresy
There are a few other scraps of evidence that point to
Leonardo holding unconventional religious beliefs. In the Codex Atlanticus he recals an unpleasant incident in connection
with a representation of the Infant Christ: "When I made a Christ Child you put me in prison. Now if I represent
him grown up you will treat me worse." Also some of his jokes seem to at the expense of the priesthood. There
is also one of his "prophesies" (not predictions of future events but a series of enigmatic or riddle-like pronouncements)
entitled "Of Christians" which reads "Many who hold the faith of the son only build temples in the name of the mother
Leonardo's Sexuality
Jacopo Saltarelli
In 1476 Leonardo and three others were twice denounced to the police for having "committed
sodomy" with a young man of seventeen, a person who modelled in the studio of Verrochio (Leonardo's master) called Jacopo
Saltarelli. The accusation was made anonymously by means of a note deposited in a special letterbox outside the
Palazzo Vecchio. The note said that Saltarelli "...consents to please those persons who request such wickedness of him"
and that he had "served several dozen people" so it seems reasonable to suppose that he was a prostitute. The case came
before the courts twice and was dismissed on each occasion due to a lack of witnesses or evidence.
Salai
In 1494 Leonardo was walking in the countryside around
Milan when he saw a boy dressed in rags sketching the goats he was tending. The boy's father, being poor, agreed to
let Leonardo take the boy into his care. His name was Gian Giacomo Copotti da Oreno. Because he was badly behaved Leonardo
nicknamed him Salai being short for Salaino meaning "little devil."
No one can be certain as to Leonardo's sexuality. Some
say that the Allegory of Pleasure and Pain may depict Salai as Pleasure and Leonardo as Pain joined back to back. In the Codex Atlanticus an assistant
has drawn two-legged penises moving towards a small round hole labeled "Salai." We have already seen the Angel in the Flesh in the Art section of this site and noted the drawings of effeminate young men with curly hair as seen
above.
Leonardo may not have practiced sex at all. His
writings about the penis (the famous "della verga" passage from one of his notebooks), his Coitus drawing and comments on the Allegory of Pleasure and Pain show amusement and disdain for sexual practices
and perhaps an unconscious realisation that sexual activity for him would be a wasteful discharging of his energies as it
is thought that genius sublimates the libido to some extent channelling it into creativity. For evidence of this note
the comments accompanying the Allegory of Pleasure and Pain in which Leonardo makes an oblique reference to masturbation as
"those pleasures which are often the cause of the failing of life."
Leonardo the Trickster
Vasari records various stories about Leonardo's desire to shock and astonish.
While in Rome he transformed a lizard into a dragonlike
creature by attaching wings, horns and a beard which he kept in a box. He would open the box in front of friends
to frighten them.
He would show guests a sheeps intestines which could
fit in the palm of his hand. He then inflated the entrails with a bellows until it filled the room forcing the
guests into corners of the room.
The most famous of these stories, and probably the most apocryphal, is a tale from Leonardo's
childhood. A farmer of Ser Piero brought to him a wooden shield he had made and asked him to have it painted in
Florence. Ser Piero gave the shield to his son who improved it's shape and surface. He then collected
lizards, snakes, butterflies, grasshoppers and bats. Using these as inspiration he painted a fearsome monster,
a composite of various features of the animals he had collected. The monster was depicted as emerging from a dark
opening in a rock, belching fumes and fire. When Ser Piero came to collect the shield he arranged it such that
the light fell on it with the rest of the room in darkness. When Ser Piero entered the room he recoiled in horror
at the image on the shield but Leonardo said "This work has served its purpose; take it away, then, as it has produced the
effect intended."
Allegories
Pleasure
and Pain
The gruesome figures resemble those seen in alchemical illustrations
and on tarot cards. Leonardo may have been influenced by Socrates' remarks in Phaedo that pleasure and pain "are like two
bodies attached to the same head." Youthful Pleasure and elderly Pain are shown
back to back. Pleasure holds a reed in his right hand and lets gold coins fall from his left. Pain
drops caltrops (a device of iron spikes used to impede the progress of troops and horses) from his left hand and holds a branch
with rose thorns in his right. The drawing is accompanied by a moralizing inscription: "If you choose pleasure, know that he has one behind him who will deal you tribulation and repentance." "This is pleasure together with pain and they are represented as twins because one is never apart
from the other. They are made with their backs turned to each other because they are contrary to one another; they exist
in one and the same foundation, for the origin of pleasure is labour without pain, and the origins of pain are vain and wanton
pleasures. And therefore it is represented here with a reed in his right hand, which is useless and without strength,
and the wounds made with it are poisoned." "In Tuscany reeds are placed to support
beds, to signify that here vain dreams come and here a great part of life is consumed, here much useful time is wasted, namely
that of the morning, when the mind is composed and rested and the body is therefore fitted to resume new labours." "Here also many vain pleasures are taken, both with the mind imagining impossible things, and
with the body taking those pleasures which are often the cause of the failing of life."
Anatomy
Coitus
This hemisection of a copulating couple is perhaps Leonardo's most unusual
anatomical drawing. It shows a tube by which semen was thought to pass from the brain through a channel in the spine
- one of the ideas current at the time and accepted by Leonardo.
"The penis does not obey the order of its master," wrote Leonardo,
"and must be said to have its own mind."
Recent MRI scans taken by Dutch scientists
of couples engaging in intercourse show the bend of the penis to be different to that envisaged by Leonardo.
Female Anatomy
Again the influence of the anatomical knowledge of the time is seen in this drawing
of a disected woman. The heart is shown as having two chambers instead of four and the vagina has the form of an inverted
penis.
Discoveries
Leonardo made several remarkable anatomical discoveries during his examination of some
thirty corpses. He was the first to draw correct representations of the curves of the spine, the tilt of the sacrum,
the arches of the ribcage and the exact position of the pelvis.
Leonardo explored the bones of the face and skull in detail and explored
cavities such as the maxillary cavity. The drawing shows Leonardo's use of different types of shading to give the impression
of layers in three dimensions.
Meloncholia
Study the cloaked pentagram
Albrecht Durer's Knight Death Devil
Look for the hidden keys!
Stare Fixedly ... let your mind wonder through
the scared circle ... you will buy my book, you will buy my book ...
Click here to jump to Superheroines in Action ...
a little mind candy ... don't you deserve a treat?
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Last month, while in Florence, Professor
Langdon uncovered an ancient parchment that historians now believe may be the work of Leonardo da Vinci. The encoded parchment—bearing the name La Profezia (The
Prophecy)—raised eyebrows when scholars discovered it was signed "LSPDV." (Leonardo's full
name was Leonardo Ser
Pieri Da
Vincio).
More intriguing still is the legend
that the visionary Leonardo, in the days before his death, made a powerful prophecy about the future. Could this be Da Vinci's long lost prediction? Historians remain eager to learn what this
parchment says. The code has yet to reveal its mystery, but Robert Langdon is very close to finding the key to deciphering
the message. Leonardo's encoded message consists of 24 symbols. Robert Langdon is certain there exists a key, and he is
working very hard to find it.
The "Sacred Geometry" of the Masonic layout of streets in Washington, D.C., will most likely lead Brown's Professor Langdon to discover that Fort Marcy Park lies along the same
line as that made by the National Mall, which lies between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, and that extending
that line almost all the way across the United States would pass directly through the Mormon Tabernacle Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Oddly, the Mormon Tabernacle is closed to the public throughout 2006.) Even
more eerie, a line drawn from the Washington Monument to Rock Creek Park, where the body of Chandra Levy, a attractive Jewish woman who was a federal Bureau of Prisons intern and the secret lover of a Congressman,
was found in 2002, would, if extended, pass through the Scottish Rite Freemasonic Center in D.C., as well as through Freemason's Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Above
Levy's name is handwritten the words "Shari Eli." Perhaps a character name? Chandra is Sanskrit for "light," that which Masons
claim to seek.
One of the strangest pages may be this list of statues and monuments in the Washington, D.C. area, with
perplexing phrases after them:
D.C. Masonic Temple — Irish ale
Jeff Memorial — A fenced in miser
Albert Pike statue — Fresh cad onto a monk
Persephone statue on Capitol — Hi, Israel
Geo. Washington Masonic Memorial — Print a rug, Ben
Washington Obelisk — Accords femmes
Notes: The last one may refer to the Washington Monument.
"Accords femmes" translates from French into "women's agreements."
George Washington and Albert Pike were both Freemasons,
as was Ben Franklin, who may be the "Ben" referenced in one of the phrases. "Ben" may also refer to the character Ben Gates
in the film National Treasure.
The message of the Georgia Guidestones, written
in English, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Spanish, and Swahili is:
Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
Unite humanity with a living new language.
Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
Balance personal rights with social duties.
Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.
