One of the first and most basic symbol is the colour red. Sophie Neveu’s hair is red and Sir Leigh Teabing mentions that Mary Magdalene’s hair was also depicted as red in Da Vinci’s Last Supper.

Robert Langdon theorizes that Disney’s Little Mermaid, Ariel, had red hair because her story was an allegory for the story of Mary Magdalene. In a bit of an inside joke, Dan Brown named the bishop Aringarosa which in Italian translates to “Red Herring”.

Another related symbol is blood, which is red and which foreshadows the ultimate secret which is related to Jesus’ bloodline. Jean Saunière uses his own blood to leaves clues about his murder, and Sophie finds a drop of blood which leads her to the Mona Lisa.

Silas’ cilice draws blood which drips down his leg, and allows Teabing to guess correctly and strike him there when the two cross paths in London.

There are other symbols sprinkled throughout The Da Vinci Code. In Teabing’s office there is a statue of Janus, the two-headed Roman god, which symbolizes his two-faced nature.

The rose is a recurring symbol, with a single red rose in an alabaster jar marking Mary Magdalene’s sarcophagus, and the Rose Line being another integral part of the story. The symbol for Phi, the Golden Mean, is incorporated in the logo for the bank holding the safe deposit box, and this is where Langdon and Neveu discover the puzzle whose solution is the Fibonacci Sequence.

In a scene near the elevator in the Louvre there is a poster of Caravaggio’s “The Boy in the Well” which mirrors Langdon’s own story about being trapped in a well when he was a boy.

Symbols in The Da Vinci Code are sprinkled throughout the story and identifying them can be great fun.

There are some interesting descriptions of Westminster Abbey (pictured) and its history in Dan Brown’s novel.

Westminster Abbey

Address: Dean’s Yard, SW1, London SW1P 3PA

Telephone: 020 7222 5152

Opening Times

Monday to Saturday 9.30am-3.30pm | Open Sundays for services.

Prices

£15 (Adult), £12 (Concessions), £30-£42 (Family), £6 (Under 18s).

Photo courtesy: Hyougushi

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