DaVinci Code Lecture
Mary Gilray

On the evening of Friday, September 22, 2006, Dr. James Ted Walker gave a lecture about the DaVinci Code and Leonardo DaVinci himself before a full house at the Bayliss Public Library. 
The lecture began with an introduction to Dan Browns novel The DaVinci Code. Walker explained that, while aspects of the novel are true, other elements are either oversimplification or outright fabrications intended to make the story more interesting. For example, the Rose Line in Rosslyn Chapel is not, nor has it ever been, referred to as a rose line.  Its description as such in the book has prompted the Rosslyn Chapel Trust staff to place a large sign over the line informing visitors that it has nothing whatever to do with the meridian that passes through Paris.  By the same token, there is really no way that the paintings Jacques Saunire removed from their places on the wall could have been removed that quickly, as one weighs in excess of 200 pounds and the latter is actually bolted to the wall.  It is the truth of the DaVinci Code, though, that sparks most of its controversy.
Dan Brown and his wife Blythe worked together to gather the information for the book. Together, they brought to light the treatment of women in early Christianity, which brought Brown serious criticism. While the Catholic Church denies that women were ever intentionally belittled or portrayed as inherently evil, the truth is rather different.  Dr. Walker presented many instances of early and even Middle Ages religious art which portrayed women as unintelligent servants of evil, willfully bent of the corruption of the men around them.  Even in the writings of early Church fathers, women as said to be dangerous and evil by nature. While DaVinci Code gets the treatment of women in early Christianity right, the novels portrayal of Leonardo DaVinci is almost certainly wrong. 
 Dr. Walker spent the latter half of the lecture introducing listeners to DaVinci, separating man from myth.  For example, DaVinci was not, in all likelihood, homosexual.  In fact, the popular belief that he might have been gay springs solely from a paper by Sigmund Freud in which Freud interprets a dream DaVinci mentioned in passing in one of his notebooks.  Freud actually intuits more details about the dream than DaVinci presents, making his analysis questionable at best.
According to Walker, most of the conspiracy theories surrounding DaVincis Last Supper, spring from the mistaken assumption that the painting is set, as are others of that event, during the First Communion.  In fact, DaVinci set the painting moments after He informed his followers that one of them will betray him.  Viewed in this context, the odd gaps between people make sense, as the Apostles lean toward each other to try and decide which of them is the guilty party.  John (the figure many people claim is actually Mary Magdalene) is positioned as he is to allow a clear line of sight between Christ and Judas (third from the left of Christ, leaning on the table).  It is this connection between betrayer and betrayed that DaVinci sought to portray in his painting.
Walker closed with a theory explaining the popularity of the DaVinci Code. Most people today are fond of conspiracy theories.  This makes books like DaVinci Code more interesting to read, and provides a great conversation starter for readers.
Dr. Walker received his undergraduate degree in History from Lake Superior State University.  He served as an adjunct professor at Lake State before taking up a position at Ferris State University. He won the Distinguished Teacher Award in 1999.
