Does Leonardo's 'Last Supper' Hide A True Da Vinci Code?
On the heals of cooling conspiracy theories surrounding the ubiquitous The Da Vinci Code comes an unfolding real-life mystery concerning a secret that may actually be hidden in Leonardo’s masterpiece, The Last Supper. If true, it would be a signature touch by the Renaissance genius.
Discovered by an Italian computer technician, it’s a piece of music that resembles a requiem. According to Giovanni Maria Pala, the hands of Jesus and the Apostles, and the loaves of bread in the picture, represent musical notes which together form a 40-second composition. He says he made the discovery after superimposing a musical staff - the five lines used in sheet music - over that portion of the painting. The composition emerges when the “notes” are read right to left, following Leonardo’s own technique.
Pala published his findings earlier this month in the book La Musica Celata (which translates to “The Hidden Music”) in which he claims to have discovered nothing less than a sacred hymn and text, along with mystic symbols, in da Vinci’s degraded masterpiece.
The findings, explained in a Discovery article that includes video footage, are sure to spark renewed controversy.
Doug
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Reader Comments (7)
Here we go again.
But this one may have legs. I'll wait to read more about it. Sometimes we "see" what we "want" to see and that may be the case here. Time and scrutiny will tell.
Personally, I love this sort of thing. I am not a conspiracy theorist, per se, but it does get me wondering. I read the The da Vinci Code and couldn't put it down. Since then, I have read whatever I can get my hands on about the man and his widely varied talents. It would not surprise me if he did put some things in this work.
Sounds like more Dan Brown imagination to me but I will wait until I hear more about it. It could be just someone who wants to get on the google list whenever someone searches for information related to "The Da Vinci Code".
While this may be true, it remains to be proven. People often see what they want to see and even more so when they REALLY REALLY want to see it.
I am in the group that thinks this is hogwash.
Me too, but I am open to being wrong.
I'm afraid we have to agree. There has been so much hyperbole about this and other da Vinci works that it is unlikely this "find" will prove any different.
But we could always be wrong and if so, wouldn't it be an amazing discovery?