Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" erroneously presents false information as facts. This presentation clearly contrasts the historical facts with the fantasy that Dan Brown claims to be factual.

1. The Da Vinci Code Facts v/s Fiction

10. go to Contents... In Reality Leonardo was probably a homosexual (but not "flamboyant" - that would have gotten him killed) and no great fan of the Church, and he did invent some violent machines (because they made money). But he fulfilled only one Vatican commission and there is no evidence for heretical beliefs, pagan symbols in his art, exhumation of corpses (though he did probably dissect them) or alchemy. Many of these accusations date from an account in 1550 by Giorgio Vasari. The book was revised 18 years later with all the accusations removed, but the original description of Leonardo remains influential to the present day. In The Da Vinci Code Leonardo da Vinci was a flamboyant homosexual and goddess worshipper who exhumed corpses, studied alchemy and elixirs of immortality, invented horrific war and torture instruments, and fulfilled hundreds of Vatican commissions in which he hid pagan symbols. (Ch. 8)