The Da Vinci Code - Revision history

DavidB4-bot: Spelling, grammar, and general cleanup, typos fixed: … → ... (5), wasn’t → wasn't (8)

2019-11-02T02:43:12Z

Spelling, grammar, and general cleanup, typos fixed: … → ... (5), wasn’t → wasn't (8)

Dataclarifier: /* Part I: Mary Magdalene, Wife of the Messiah? */ punctuation - quote marks within a quotation are normally single quote marks not double

2019-06-19T06:03:34Z

Part I: Mary Magdalene, Wife of the Messiah?: punctuation - quote marks within a quotation are normally single quote marks not double

Dataclarifier: /* Part I: Mary Magdalene, Wife of the Messiah? */ added "Magadalene" as clarification that "Mary was never tied to any male when she was named" refers to Mary Magdalene - "Mary Magdalene was never tied to any male when she was named"

2019-06-19T05:57:47Z

Part I: Mary Magdalene, Wife of the Messiah?: added "Magadalene" as clarification that "Mary was never tied to any male when she was named" refers to Mary Magdalene - "Mary Magdalene was never tied to any male when she was named"

Dataclarifier: /* Part I: Mary Magdalene, Wife of the Messiah? */ closing brackets missing - added brackets and text below image - clicked edit page Show preview, image appeared - saved page

2019-06-19T05:47:06Z

Part I: Mary Magdalene, Wife of the Messiah?: closing brackets missing - added brackets and text below image - clicked edit page Show preview, image appeared - saved page

FredJ: a start - this needs a lot of work

2018-09-15T21:58:40Z

a start - this needs a lot of work

Show changes

Dataclarifier: /* Part IV: Constantine and the Council of Nicaea */ linked Marcion

2016-12-27T19:29:47Z

Part IV: Constantine and the Council of Nicaea: linked Marcion

DavidB4-bot: /* Part VI: Feminism in The Da Vinci Code */Spelling/Grammar Check & Cleanup, typos fixed: mass produced → mass-produced

2016-06-29T15:31:58Z

Part VI: Feminism in The Da Vinci Code: Spelling/Grammar Check & Cleanup, typos fixed: mass produced → mass-produced

DavidB4-bot: clean up & uniformity

2016-06-27T21:28:20Z

clean up & uniformity

TheAmericanRedoubt at 08:03, January 21, 2015

2015-01-21T08:03:54Z

JoeyJ: /* Part VII: Leonardo DaVinci */

2014-08-01T10:21:20Z

Part VII: Leonardo DaVinci

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 If it were true, Jesus’ marriage would have been a significant addition to Paul’s argument, but it is not mentioned. Perhaps this is because Jesus was not married.(Bock 42)
-''The Da Vinci Code'' assumes Jesus must be married “because Jesus was a Jew and the social decorum during that time virtually forbade a Jewish man to be unmarried. According to Jewish custom, celibacy was condemned.” Actually, celibacy was not condemned, nor was it even looked down upon. (Bock 53)  Several Jewish sects—most notably the Essenes—lived celibate lives dedicating their time wholly to their religion. Additionally, many Jewish prophets and teachers were unmarried and chose to remain celibate: Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and many scholars believe, Paul. It was a way of expressing total devotion to God, but those who did choose to marry were not viewed as any less. (Welborn 60) In an article, [[Archbishop George H. Niederauer]] points out that when Brown talks about Jesus’ marriage, he “stresses the importance of the social decorum at that time. If “social decorum” had been a high priority for Jesus he wouldn’t have healed people on the Sabbath, talked to the Samaritan woman at the well, knocked over the moneychangers’ tables in the Temple, or socialized often with public sinners.” (Niederauer 2)
+''The Da Vinci Code'' assumes Jesus must be married “because Jesus was a Jew and the social decorum during that time virtually forbade a Jewish man to be unmarried. According to Jewish custom, celibacy was condemned.” Actually, celibacy was not condemned, nor was it even looked down upon. (Bock 53)  Several Jewish sects—most notably the Essenes—lived celibate lives dedicating their time wholly to their religion. Additionally, many Jewish prophets and teachers were unmarried and chose to remain celibate: Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and many scholars believe, Paul. It was a way of expressing total devotion to God, but those who did choose to marry were not viewed as any less. (Welborn 60) In an article, [[Archbishop George H. Niederauer]] points out that when Brown talks about Jesus’ marriage, he “stresses the importance of the social decorum at that time. If ‘social decorum’ had been a high priority for Jesus he wouldn’t have healed people on the Sabbath, talked to the Samaritan woman at the well, knocked over the moneychangers’ tables in the Temple, or socialized often with public sinners.” (Niederauer 2)
 Teabing states that Jesus’ marriage is “a matter of historical record,” and has been meticulously documented by “scores of historians” throughout history.  OK, so where might these historical records be found? The answer is, nowhere… except in Dan Brown’s imagination, perhaps.  Essentially, in every single early Christian writing combined there is not one single reference to Jesus’ marriage.  This includes the canonical and non-canonical texts—the Constantine-approved, biased selection of scripture known as the Bible as well as the unaltered, censored Gnostic gospels.  (Ehrman 153)  In his book, Darrell L. Bock explains… in my office there are 38 volumes or early church documents, each several hundred pages, double columns, in small print.  The fact that out of all this material only two texts can be brought forward as even ancient candidates for the theory shows how unlikely it is..

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 Teabing apparently is of the belief that Jesus used to kiss Mary on the mouth, and reports this to Sophie and Langdon as a fact without any explanation. He then goes on to inform a spellbound Sophie and Langdon that “as any Aramaic scholar can tell you, the word ‘companion,’ in those days, literally meant spouse.” (Ehrman 142) However the word is not Aramaic, the Gospel of Peter is written in Coptic and the actual word for companion is a loan word from Greek. The Greek ''koinόnos'' is a word used for friends and associates. (Ehrman 143)
-There is no evidence anywhere that indicates that Jesus was married. (Bock 32) In the Bible, women are often identified by the men whom they are associated with. (Mary the mother of Jesus, the mother of Mark, and the wives of several of the apostles are mentioned.) Mary was never tied to any male when she was named. Instead, she was identified by her hometown, Magdala. (Bock 41) While the Bible talks in great detail about Jesus’ other relationships—his mother, father, siblings, aunt, uncle, disciples’ parents, disciples’ wives—not once is Jesus’ wife mentioned. (Welborn 60)
+There is no evidence anywhere that indicates that Jesus was married. (Bock 32) In the Bible, women are often identified by the men whom they are associated with. (Mary the mother of Jesus, the mother of Mark, and the wives of several of the apostles are mentioned.) Mary Magdalene was never tied to any male when she was named. Instead, she was identified by her hometown, Magdala. (Bock 41) While the Bible talks in great detail about Jesus’ other relationships—his mother, father, siblings, aunt, uncle, disciples’ parents, disciples’ wives—not once is Jesus’ wife mentioned. (Welborn 60)
 Additionally, when Jesus was dying on the cross, he turned to John and instructed him to take care of his mother. He shows no concern whatsoever for Mary Magdalene in his last moments, which seems odd. After all, if she was his wife, pregnant with his child, his last hope for restoring the sacred feminine, the future leader of his church, etc., wouldn’t he be slightly worried about her well-being? Widowed women in those days had little hope of anything but a destitute future with no caretaker. Perhaps the reason why Jesus did not mention her is because, well, she wasn’t his wife. (Bock 44)

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 Where did all of these ideas come from? According to ''The Da Vinci Code''’s resident scholar, Teabing, “the royal bloodline has been chronicled in exhaustive detail by scores of historians,” citing The Templar Revelation and [[Holy Blood, Holy Grail]] as sources. Interestingly, these books (which are also found in Dan Brown’s official bibliography) are dismissed by all serious historians, and described as being “schlock pseudo-history and conspiracy-theory.” (Welborn 63) Teabing also mentions ''[[The Woman with the Alabaster Jar]]'' and ''[[The Goddess in the Gospels]]'', both by [[Margaret Starbird]], who uses, among other things, [[numerology]] (the sum of the numbers in her name), to conclude that Mary Magdalene was worshipped as a goddess. Additional sources for Brown’s claims lie in the [[Gnostic gospels]] (Welborn 63)
-[[Image: littlemermaid.jpg|thumb|right|200px|In TDVC, Brown gives credence to Margaret Starbird’s idea that Ariel, the "Little Mermaid" in the [[Disney]] film, is not just a fictional fairy tale character, but a symbol representing Mary Magdalene. According to Brown, [[Walt Disney]] was a believer in the Sacred Feminine and purposefully filled the movie with hidden codes about Mary Magdalene, including Ariel’s red hair—supposedly Mary Magdalene’s was red as well—and the painting she finds at the bottom of the sea ([[Georges de la Tour]]’s [[Magdalene with the Smoking Flame]]). (Starbird) These claims seem to be disproven given that Walt Disney had been dead for over 20 years when ''The Little Mermaid'' was made in 1989.
+[[Image: littlemermaid.jpg|thumb|right|200px|scene from Disney Productions' "The Little Mermaid"]]In TDVC, Brown gives credence to Margaret Starbird’s idea that Ariel, the "Little Mermaid" in the [[Disney]] film, is not just a fictional fairy tale character, but a symbol representing Mary Magdalene. According to Brown, [[Walt Disney]] was a believer in the Sacred Feminine and purposefully filled the movie with hidden codes about Mary Magdalene, including Ariel’s red hair—supposedly Mary Magdalene’s was red as well—and the painting she finds at the bottom of the sea ([[Georges de la Tour]]’s [[Magdalene with the Smoking Flame]]). (Starbird) These claims seem to be disproven given that Walt Disney had been dead for over 20 years when ''The Little Mermaid'' was made in 1989.
 Even with these unreliable sources to occasionally back him up, most of Brown’s claims about Mary Magdalene have no historical evidence behind them whatsoever. There is no record anywhere to even suggest that Mary Magdalene was of the tribe of Benjamin—and this would not have made her “royal”.  (Ehrman 160) It is true that in the gospels there is no mention of Mary Magdalene being a prostitute. This idea first came into existence 500 years after the gospels were written, and became popular in the [[Middle Ages]] and [[the Renaissance]]. In 1969, the [[Catholic Church]] issued a formal statement clearing Mary’s reputation, and separating her from Mary from Bethany, the “sinful woman.” (Van Biema)

@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
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 <blockquote>
-''…for inasmuch as error is falsification of truth, it must needs be that truth therefore precedes error.'' –Tertullian in ''Against Marcion''
+''…for inasmuch as error is falsification of truth, it must needs be that truth therefore precedes error.'' –Tertullian in ''Against [[Marcion of Sinope|Marcion]]''
 </blockquote>
 The [[Council of Nicaea]] (325 AD)—presided over by Roman Emperor [[Constantine]]—was the first ecumenical gathering of Christians.  In The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown makes some startling assertions about the Council Constantine.

@@ Line 137: / Line 137: @@
 The church certainly would not have felt threatened by any of these women, as Dan Brown suggests; they were poor and unpopular—not powerful, freethinking women.  Furthermore, it was rare that church authorities accused witches; it was almost always ordinary citizens, and often other women!  Interestingly, 20-25% of witchcraft charges were made against men and more than half of witch-trial defendants—male and female—were acquitted.  As Amy Welborn puts it, “the witch-trial hype was apparently a nuisance to authorities.”  (Welborn 77)
-Additionally, Brown states that the [[Malleus Maleficarum]] “Hammer of the Witches” was a “universal guide” to witch trials, mass produced and used by church authorities everywhere— basically, the misogynist bible.  The Malleus Maleficarum was a real book, and it certainly was an evil work, but it only went through 30 printings (amazon.com) and its author was not Catholic, but a Dominican Inquisitionist [[Heinrich Kramer]], an unsuccessful fraud.  Although Kramer claimed experience in over 100 trials, he actually only tried 8 women and was thrown out of the second town he went to. (Welborn 78)
+Additionally, Brown states that the [[Malleus Maleficarum]] “Hammer of the Witches” was a “universal guide” to witch trials, mass-produced and used by church authorities everywhere— basically, the misogynist bible.  The Malleus Maleficarum was a real book, and it certainly was an evil work, but it only went through 30 printings (amazon.com) and its author was not Catholic, but a Dominican Inquisitionist [[Heinrich Kramer]], an unsuccessful fraud.  Although Kramer claimed experience in over 100 trials, he actually only tried 8 women and was thrown out of the second town he went to. (Welborn 78)
 Perhaps the most serious fact overlooked by Dan Brown in his representation of the Catholic Church as anti-female is [[Mary the Mother of Jesus]].  Dan Brown’s total silence on this matter is glaringly obvious to anyone who knows anything about Christianity.  The truth is that the Catholic Church holds Mary in extremely high esteem—some even believe too much.  She is such a central figure in the Catholic faith, that at times she appears as important as Jesus Christ himself.  However, Dan Brown has seemingly never heard of her.

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-The Da Vinci Code is a bestselling novel by author [[Dan Brown]].  It has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, and has been translated into over 40 languages. (ParisInfo.com)  It has been on the top of the [[NY Times]] Bestseller List since its release in 2003, and held the coveted #1 spot for many weeks. (Catholic.com)  The book’s exciting storyline and interesting characters have contributed to its record sales—as has its highly controversial content.
+'''The Da Vinci Code''' is a bestselling novel by author [[Dan Brown]].  It has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, and has been translated into over 40 languages. (ParisInfo.com)  It has been on the top of the [[NY Times]] Bestseller List since its release in 2003, and held the coveted #1 spot for many weeks. (Catholic.com)  The book’s exciting storyline and interesting characters have contributed to its record sales—as has its highly controversial content.
 [[Image: davincicode.jpg|thumb|right|120px|''The Da Vinci Code'' book cover (UK 1st edition)]]
@@ Line 9: / Line 8: @@
 Many authors have written books debunking the historical inaccuracies in the Brown's book, selling millions of copies.
-==='''Plot Summary'''===
+===Plot Summary===
 ----
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 It is story above revealing this fictional conspiracy that gives the Da Vinci Code its allure.
-==='''Part I: Mary Magdalene, Wife of the Messiah?'''===
+===Part I: Mary Magdalene, Wife of the Messiah?===
 ----
 Mary Magdalene is a good place to start, because she and her supposed marriage to Jesus are the cornerstones upon which Brown’s claims rest.  In The Da Vinci Code, Brown states that Mary Magdalene is a “royal” Jewish woman from the tribe of Benjamin and Jesus’ single most important disciple.  She is not a prostitute—in fact this was a lie invented by the Catholic Church to demonize her.  She is also his lover, wife, and the mother of their daughter, Sarah.  She was supposed to be the leader of the church after Jesus’ death, but was forced by “Peter’s Party” aka “the winners” to escape to Provence, France with her daughter.  Her womb is the “Holy Grail”, her bones are buried under the glass pyramid at the [[Louvre]], the Priory of Scion and Knight’s Templar were dedicated to preserving her story and worshipped her as a goddess, she was the “Divine Mother” and represented the real purpose of Jesus’ life and teaching—to reintegrate the “Sacred Feminine” into society.  However, Mary Magdalene is mentioned only a few times in the gospels—and never once is a single one of Brown’s claims about Mary supported by the Bible.  (Welborn 63)
@@ Line 52: / Line 51: @@
 Teabing states that Jesus’ marriage is “a matter of historical record,” and has been meticulously documented by “scores of historians” throughout history.  OK, so where might these historical records be found? The answer is, nowhere… except in Dan Brown’s imagination, perhaps.  Essentially, in every single early Christian writing combined there is not one single reference to Jesus’ marriage.  This includes the canonical and non-canonical texts—the Constantine-approved, biased selection of scripture known as the Bible as well as the unaltered, censored Gnostic gospels.  (Ehrman 153)  In his book, Darrell L. Bock explains… in my office there are 38 volumes or early church documents, each several hundred pages, double columns, in small print.  The fact that out of all this material only two texts can be brought forward as even ancient candidates for the theory shows how unlikely it is..
-==='''Part II: “Peter’s Party” vs. “Mary’s Party”'''===
+===Part II: “Peter’s Party” vs. “Mary’s Party”===
 ----
 While Dan Brown exalts Mary Magdalene to the point of goddess status, at the same time he ironically claims that the early church did not believe Jesus was divine, and in fact, that Jesus himself did not claim to be the Son of God!  This is a myth invented by the “winners”, beginning with Jesus’ chauvinistic disciple Peter.  According to Dan Brown, after Jesus’ death, Mary Magdalene was intended to be the leader of the church, but egotistical Peter took over, and Mary was forced to flee to France with her child.  Peter’s goal was to suppress the truth about who Mary was.
@@ Line 70: / Line 69: @@
 If Brown had told the whole story, perhaps Sophie would not view the Gnostic Jesus as the “original feminist”.  ("Jesus was the original feminist. He intended for the future of the church to be in the hands of Mary Magdalene." -Sir Leigh Teabing TDVC 248)
-==='''Part III: The Gnostics & the Non-canonical Gospels'''===
+===Part III: The Gnostics & the Non-canonical Gospels===
 ----
 So, the Peter-party myth has been “busted.”  We have seen that the Bible does not demonize Mary Magdalene the way Dan Brown claims it does, and the Gnostic texts Brown used for “evidence” did not present an accurate representation of Gnosticism.  So, who exactly were the Gnostics?  They were one of the first of many cults—or groups that branched off from Christianity because of disagreements with aspects of Christian doctrine.  Brown conveniently does not mention Docetism, a first century cult of the belief that Jesus Christ was only God, and not at all human.  (Niederauer)  [[Gnosticism]] arose in the century after Jesus’ death and (not unlike Dan Brown himself) believed they held the key to some secret, hidden knowledge (or gnosis) about Jesus.  (Ehrman 42)  The Gnostics claimed to rely entirely on knowledge or reason, and viewed God as an intangible, mystical force.  The term “agnostic” is now used to refer to individuals who claim that understanding God is impossible because it is somehow beyond human reasoning.  (Schlafly)  However, what Dan Brown claims they believed about Jesus is a far cry from the truth.
@@ Line 86: / Line 85: @@
 Bart Ehrman in his book Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code, critiques six typical examples of [[non-canonical gospels]].  The gospels he discusses include [[The Infancy Gospel of Thomas]], [[The Gospel of Peter]], [[The Coptic Apocalypse of Peter]], [[The Coptic Gospel of Thomas]], and [[The Gospels of Philip and Mary]].  Each one presents a consistently more divine picture of Jesus that the canonical gospels.  Some even stand directly against the view that Jesus was human and deemphasize his humanity.  (Ehrman 49-71)
-==='''Part IV: Constantine and the Council of Nicaea'''===
+===Part IV: Constantine and the Council of Nicaea===
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 <blockquote>
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 Brown also states that the four chosen gospels were “embellished” to further demonize Mary Magdalene, emphasize Jesus’ humanity and so forth.  By the fourth century there were hundreds—maybe thousands of copies of those four gospels in existence.  It is impossible that some authority ordered every copy altered.  Today, among surviving ancient copies of these gospels no “embellished” versions exist.  (Garlow and Jones 147)
-==='''Part V: Secret Societies'''===
+===Part V: Secret Societies===
 ----
 The first page in The Da Vinci Code is entitled “facts”.  The following statement is made about the ancient, secret society known as the “[[Priory of Scion]]”:
@@ Line 128: / Line 127: @@
-==='''Part VI: Feminism in The Da Vinci Code'''===
+===Part VI: Feminism in The Da Vinci Code===
 ----
 The Da Vinci Code is so much about the Church demonizing women throughout the centuries that it is no surprise it is a huge hit among women—and feminists in particular.  The amount of ideologically-motivated material in The Da Vinci Code is startling.   One example is that Brown perpetuates the idea of the “Sacred Feminine/Mother Goddess” throughout the book.  This idea basically states that in ancient times, people primarily worshipped female deities.  Because their religion was based on femininity, reproduction and therefore agriculture played an important part in their lives.  Ancient societies were made up of peace-loving farmers, who were in tune with nature, respected women, did not engage in warfare or even own weapons designed for killing humans.  (Welborn 74)
@@ Line 142: / Line 141: @@
 Perhaps the most serious fact overlooked by Dan Brown in his representation of the Catholic Church as anti-female is [[Mary the Mother of Jesus]].  Dan Brown’s total silence on this matter is glaringly obvious to anyone who knows anything about Christianity.  The truth is that the Catholic Church holds Mary in extremely high esteem—some even believe too much.  She is such a central figure in the Catholic faith, that at times she appears as important as Jesus Christ himself.  However, Dan Brown has seemingly never heard of her.
-==='''Part VII: Leonardo DaVinci'''===
+===Part VII: Leonardo DaVinci===
 ----
 So, by this time you are probably thinking as I did, “Brown must have at least gotten Da Vinci right!”  Well, as it turns out—and by this point, it should not be very surprising—he did not.  The list of errors Brown makes about the title-inspiring [[Leonardo Da Vinci]] is lengthy.  On his official website, Brown states that Leonardo was “a prankster and genius" who is "widely believed to have hidden secret messages within much of his artwork."  This is simply not true; it's almost impossible to locate any serious art scholar or historian who believes that about Leonardo Da Vinci.  (Olson and Miesel)
@@ Line 162: / Line 161: @@
 Brown then goes on to state that “the nuns” wished for the painting to contain Mary, Jesus, John the Baptist and the angel Uriel.  Leonardo followed “the nuns” instructions, but the first version he painted contained "explosive and disturbing details."  Actually, the confraternity wanted God the Father overhead, with two prophets on the side panels and the Virgin of the Rocks centered in the middle.  It is not known exactly what conspired between Leonardo and the monks, but it is know that Leonardo did not follow their original instructions.  There was nothing startlingly “un-Christian” in either version. (Olson and Miesel)
-==='''Part VIII: Dan Brown’s Representation of Christianity'''===
+===Part VIII: Dan Brown’s Representation of Christianity===
 ----
 Throughout The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown paints a picture of Christianity, and most importantly, its central figure: Jesus Christ.  In official interviews, he states that he himself is a Christian.  (danbrown.com)
@@ Line 192: / Line 191: @@
 Director [[Ron Howard]], producer Brian Grazer and actor [[Tom Hanks]] teamed up to make a film adaptation of the novel. It opened at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] and was conformed of an ensemble cast. It failed to live up to box office expectations which called for a super blockbuster and was critically lambasted for its pacing and ridiculous sounding dialog.
-==='''Bibliography'''===
+===Bibliography===
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@@ Line 267: / Line 266: @@
 Schlafly, Andrew.  World History Fourth Lecture – Ancient History.  October 2006.
-[[category:literature|Da Vinci Code]]
+[[Category:Literature|Da Vinci Code]]
 [[Category:Liberal Fiction]]

@@ Line 186: / Line 186: @@
 Apparently, Dan Brown believes there are no solid truths—that Christian doctrine is malleable and can be tailored to each person’s desires.  However, he is gravely mistaken; faith is not a continuum.  Christianity does not involve shaky, grey areas of doubt and confusion, but is based upon a solid foundation—the rock that is Jesus Christ.  Christians do not rely on their "own paths of enlightenment", instead looking to the Bible and the Holy Spirit for truth and revelation.  As Martin Lloyd-Jones describes it, Christianity “is to be the acceptance of certain truths, and the working out of a reasoned, logical argument on the basis of those truths.  It is not to be something vague, and general, and intangible, which varies with one’s moods and feelings.” (Why Does God Allow War?)  For Christians, the “spiritual quest” simply means following Jesus Christ and seeking to know him more deeply.  Perhaps the biggest myth in The Da Vinci Code is the misrepresentation of Jesus Christ.
 ==Film adaptation==
@@ Line 267: / Line 266: @@
 Schlafly, Andrew.  World History Fourth Lecture – Ancient History.  October 2006.

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 Georgetown art historian Diane Cappadonna states,
 <blockquote>''I do not believe there is a woman in The Last Supper, and I do not believe in any way that it is Mary Magdalene.  The ‘V’ shapes”—not a single ‘M’ as Brown interprets—“that are there serve a solely artistic purpose—to place emphasis in the composition on Christ and to emphasize perspective.'' (Burnstein 229-230) </blockquote> Brown also argues the case that the figure must be a woman because “Da Vinci was skilled at painting the difference between the sexes.”  It certainly is true that Leonardo was a skilled painter; however all Renaissance artists depicted the disciple John as decidedly effeminate… Leonardo included.  In fact, most young men were painted with very womanly features.  In Leonardo’s painting St. John the Baptist; the face is astonishingly similar to John in The Last Supper—and equally feminine.  Are we to suppose that this also is secretly Mary Magdalene?
 In addition to The Last Supper, Brown states that "…works like the Mona Lisa and Madonna of the Rocks al[so] …seem to be whispering the same cryptic message.  He goes on to describe the Mona Lisa as an androgynous self-portrait.  Shelley Esaak explains Brown’s reasoning behind making such an assertion: