Hey, Mr Langford,' a muscle-bound man said. Is it true that the Mona Lisa is a picture of Da Vinci in drag?
I heard that was true.'
'It's quite possible,' Langdon said. 'Da Vinci was a prankster, and computerized analysis of the Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's self-portraits confirm some startling points of congruency in their faces. Whatever Da Vinci was up to,' Langdon said, 'his Mona Lisa is neither male nor female. It carries a subtle message of androgyny. It is a fusing of both.'
You sure that's not just some Harvard bullshit way of saying Mona Lisa is one ugly chick.'
Now Langdon laughed. 'You may be right. But actually Da Vinci left a big clue that the painting was supposed to be androgynous. Has anyone here ever heard of an Egyptian god named Amon?'
"There's nothing here!'
At that moment, Langdon saw a faint purple glimmer on the protective glass before the Mona isa. Reaching down, he took Sophies wrist and slowly moved the light up to the painting itself.
They both froze.
On the glass, six words glowed in purple, scrawled directly across the Mona Lisa's face.
"Hell yes!' the big guy said. 'God of masculine fertility!'
Langdon was stunned.
'It says so on every box of Amon condoms.' The muscular man gave a wide grin. 'It's got a guy with a ram's head on the front and says he's the Egyptian god of fertility!'
Langdon was not familiar with the brand name, but he was glad to hear the prophylactic manufacturers had got their hieroglyphs right. 'Well done. Amon is indeed represented as a man with a ram's head, and his promiscuity and curved horns are related to our modern sexual slang "horny"!
'No shit!'
"No shit,' Langdon said. 'And do you know who Amon's counterpart was? The Egyptian goddess of fertility?' The question met with several seconds of silence.
It was Isis," Langdon told them, grabbing a grease pen. 'So we have the male god, Amon.!' He wrote it down. 'And the female goddess, Isis, whose ancient pictogram was once called L'ISA.'
Langdon finished writing and stepped back from the projector.
AMON L'ISA
'Ring any bells?' he asked.
'Mona Lisa. holy crap,' somebody gasped.
Langdon nodded. 'Gentlemen, not only does the face of Mona Lisa look androgynous, but her name is an anagram of the divine union of male and female.
And that, my friends, is Da Vinci's little secret, and the reason for Mona Lisa's knowing smile.'
'My grandfather was here,' Sophie said, dropping suddenly to her knees, now only ten feet from the Mona Lisa. She pointed the black light tentatively to a spot on the parquet floor.
At first Langdon saw nothing. Then, as he kneit beside her, he saw a tiny droplet of dried liquid that was luminescing. Ink? Suddenly he recalled what black lights were actually used for. Blood. His senses tingled. Sophie was right. Jacques Saunière had indeed paid a visit to the Mona Lisa before he
died.
He wouldn't have come here without a reason Sophie whispered, standing up. I know he left a message for me here: Quickly striding the final few steps to the Mona Lisa, she illuminated the floor directly in front of the painting. She waved the light back and forth across the bare parquet.
Sayfa 168 - Corgi
340 görüntüleme
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