Despite her monumental reputation, the Mona Lisa was a mere1 thirty-one inches by twenty-oneinches—smaller even than the posters of her sold in the Louvre gift shop. She hung on thenorthwest wall of the Salle des Etats behind a two-inch-thick pane2 of protective Plexiglas. Paintedon a poplar wood panel, her ethereal, mist-filled atmosphere was attributed to Da Vinci's masteryof the sfumato style, in which forms appear to evaporate into one another.
Since taking up residence in the Louvre, the Mona Lisa—or La Jaconde as they call her inFrance—had been stolen twice, most recently in 1911, when she disappeared from the Louvre's"satte impénétrable"—Le Salon3 Carre. Parisians wept in the streets and wrote newspaper articlesbegging the thieves for the painting's return. Two years later, the Mona Lisa was discovered hiddenin the false bottom of a trunk in a Florence hotel room.
Langdon, now having made it clear to Sophie that he had no intention of leaving, moved with heracross the Salle des Etats. The Mona Lisa was still twenty yards ahead when Sophie turned on theblack light, and the bluish crescent of penlight fanned out on the floor in front of them. She swungthe beam back and forth4 across the floor like a minesweeper, searching for any hint of luminescentink.
Walking beside her, Langdon was already feeling the tingle5 of anticipation6 that accompanied hisface-to-face reunions with great works of art. He strained to see beyond the cocoon7 of purplishlight emanating8 from the black light in Sophie's hand. To the left, the room's octagonal viewingdivan emerged, looking like a dark island on the empty sea of parquet9.
Langdon could now begin to see the panel of dark glass on the wall. Behind it, he knew, in theconfines of her own private cell, hung the most celebrated10 painting in the world.
The Mona Lisa's status as the most famous piece of art in the world, Langdon knew, had nothing todo with her enigmatic smile. Nor was it due to the mysterious interpretations11 attributed her bymany art historians and conspiracy12 buffs. Quite simply, the Mona Lisa was famous becauseLeonardo da Vinci claimed she was his finest accomplishment13. He carried the painting with himwhenever he traveled and, if asked why, would reply that he found it hard to part with his mostsublime expression of female beauty.
Even so, many art historians suspected Da Vinci's reverence14 for the Mona Lisa had nothing to dowith its artistic15 mastery. In actuality, the painting was a surprisingly ordinary sfumato portrait. DaVinci's veneration16 for this work, many claimed, stemmed from something far deeper: a hiddenmessage in the layers of paint. The Mona Lisa was, in fact, one of the world's most documentedinside jokes. The painting's well-documented collage17 of double entendres and playful allusions18 hadbeen revealed in most art history tomes, and yet, incredibly, the public at large still considered hersmile a great mystery.
No mystery at all, Langdon thought, moving forward and watching as the faint outline of thepainting began to take shape. No mystery at all.
Most recently Langdon had shared the Mona Lisa's secret with a rather unlikely group—a dozeninmates at the Essex County Penitentiary20. Langdon's jail seminar was part of a Harvard outreachprogram attempting to bring education into the prison system—Culture for Convicts, as Langdon'scolleagues liked to call it.
Standing21 at an overhead projector22 in a darkened penitentiary library, Langdon had shared the MonaLisa's secret with the prisoners attending class, men whom he found surprisingly engaged—rough,but sharp. "You may notice," Langdon told them, walking up to the projected image of the MonaLisa on the library wall, "that the background behind her face is uneven23." Langdon motioned to theglaring discrepancy24. "Da Vinci painted the horizon line on the left significantly lower than theright.""He screwed it up?" one of the inmates19 asked.
Langdon chuckled25. "No. Da Vinci didn't do that too often. Actually, this is a little trick Da Vinciplayed. By lowering the countryside on the left, Da Vinci made Mona Lisa look much larger fromthe left side than from the right side. A little Da Vinci inside joke. Historically, the concepts ofmale and female have assigned sides—left is female, and right is male. Because Da Vinci was a bigfan of feminine principles, he made Mona Lisa look more majestic26 from the left than the right.""I heard he was a fag," said a small man with a goatee.
Langdon winced27. "Historians don't generally put it quite that way, but yes, Da Vinci was ahomosexual.""Is that why he was into that whole feminine thing?""Actually, Da Vinci was in tune28 with the balance between male and female. He believed that ahuman soul could not be enlightened unless it had both male and female elements.""You mean like chicks with dicks?" someone called.
This elicited29 a hearty30 round of laughs. Langdon considered offering an etymological31 sidebar aboutthe word hermaphrodite and its ties to Hermes and Aphrodite, but something told him it would belost on this crowd.
"Hey, Mr. Langford," a muscle-bound man said. "Is it true that the Mona Lisa is a picture of DaVinci in drag? I heard that was true.""It's quite possible," Langdon said. "Da Vinci was a prankster, and computerized analysis of theMona 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 carriesa 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 paintingwas supposed to be androgynous. Has anyone here ever heard of an Egyptian god named Amon?""Hell yes!" the big guy said. "God of masculine fertility!"Langdon was stunned32.
"It says so on every box of Amon condoms." The muscular man gave a wide grin. "It's got a guywith 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 prophylacticmanufacturers had gotten their hieroglyphs33 right. "Well done. Amon is indeed represented as a manwith a ram's head, and his promiscuity34 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 goddessof 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." Hewrote 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 gasped35.
Langdon nodded. "Gentlemen, not only does the face of Mona Lisa look androgynous, but hername is an anagram of the divine union of male and female. And that, my friends, is Da Vinci'slittle 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 fromthe Mona Lisa. She pointed36 the black light tentatively to a spot on the parquet floor.
At first Langdon saw nothing. Then, as he knelt beside her, he saw a tiny droplet37 of dried liquidthat was luminescing. Ink? Suddenly he recalled what black lights were actually used for. Blood.
His senses tingled38. Sophie was right. Jacques Saunière had indeed paid a visit to the Mona Lisabefore he died.
"He wouldn't have come here without a reason," Sophie whispered, standing up. "I know he left amessage for me here." Quickly striding the final few steps to the Mona Lisa, she illuminated39 thefloor directly in front of the painting. She waved the light back and forth across the bare parquet.
"There's nothing here!"At that moment, Langdon saw a faint purple glimmer40 on the protective glass before the Mona Lisa.
Reaching down, he took Sophie's wrist and slowly moved the light up to the painting itself.
They both froze.
On the glass, six words glowed in purple, scrawled41 directly across the Mona Lisa's face.
虽然《蒙娜丽莎》大名远扬，可它实际上只有三十一英寸长，二十一英寸宽，比卢浮宫礼品店中出售的《蒙娜丽莎》招贴画还小。它被挂在国家展厅西北墙那两英寸厚的防护玻璃框内。这幅画画在一块白杨木板上，达。芬奇的晕染法使它看上去飘逸而朦胧，事物的边界相互交融在一起。
自从被卢浮宫收藏以来，《蒙娜丽莎》已经两次被盗。最近的一次是在1911 年，它从卢浮宫的"神秘之室"--正方形展厅中消失了。巴黎人在街道上哭泣，在报纸上发表文章，乞求窃贼将画还回来。两年后，在佛罗伦萨饭店的一个房间中，有人在一个旅行箱的夹层中发现了这幅画。
现在，兰登已经向索菲表明他根本就不打算离开，他和索菲一起向国家展厅深处走去。在距离《蒙娜丽莎》还有二十码的时候，索菲打开了紫外线灯。紫外线灯在他们前方的地板上投射出一片扇形的青色光亮。索菲将光束在地板上前后晃动，寻找着感光墨水的痕迹，就像一艘扫雷艇在搜寻着水雷。
兰登走在索菲身边，为能与伟大的艺术作品面对面而兴奋不已。他瞪大眼睛，把目光投向紫外线灯的光影所不及的地方。在他们的左边，拼花地板上放着供参观者小憩的八边形大沙发，看上去就像广阔的海洋中有一座黑暗的孤岛。
此时，兰登已经可以看见那深色的防护玻璃框了。他知道，在那后面，悬挂着世界上最著名的油画。
兰登明白，《蒙娜丽莎》之所以成为世界艺术名品，并不是因为蒙娜丽莎拥有神秘微笑，也不是因为众多艺术史学家对它作出了神秘的说明，而仅仅是因为列昂纳多。达。芬奇声称这是他的得意之作。无论到哪里，他都带着这幅画，他说自己无法与它分离，因为它是对女性美的最完美表达。
尽管如此，许多艺术史学家认为达。芬奇对于《蒙娜丽莎》的喜爱与其艺术技法无关。
实际上，它不过是一幅运用了晕染法的普通肖像画。许多人认为达。芬奇对于这幅画的喜爱源于更深层的原因：它隐藏着信息。事实上，《蒙娜丽莎》是世界上记载最详实的玩笑之一。尽管多数艺术史的大部头专著都揭示了它那巧妙的影射和含义，但令人难以置信的是，大多数人还是认为她的微笑非常神秘。
一点儿都不神秘，兰登边想，边朝那幅画走去，那模糊的轮廓在他的眼中变得渐渐清晰起来。根本不神秘。
最近，兰登刚与一群人分享了《蒙娜丽莎》的秘密。这群人的身份出人意料--他们是埃塞克斯县监狱的囚犯。兰登的这场狱中研讨会是哈佛大学"送教育进监狱"项目的一个组成部分，兰登的同事们把这个项目称为"囚犯文化"。
收容所图书馆的灯都熄灭了。兰登站在幻灯机前与前来上课的囚犯们一起分享《蒙娜丽莎》的秘密。这些人的专注出乎他的意料--他们虽然长得粗壮，但很敏锐。兰登将《蒙娜丽莎》的图片投射到图书馆的墙壁上，说道。"你们可以发现蒙娜丽莎身后的背景不在一条水平线上。"兰登指着这明显的差异说："达。芬奇将左边的地平线画得明显高于右边的地平线。""他把画挂歪了？"一个囚犯问道。
兰登暗自发笑。"不，达。芬奇可不常犯这样的错误。实际上，这是他玩的一个小把戏。
他把左边乡村景色的地平线画得低一些，这样就使得蒙娜丽莎的左侧看上去比右侧大一些。这是达。芬奇开的小玩笑。历史上，人们曾给男女指定了方位--左边代表女性，右边代表男性。因为达。芬奇是女性主义的信仰者，所以他让蒙娜丽莎从左边看上去更庄重美丽。""我听说达。芬奇是个同性恋男人。"一个留着山羊胡子的小个子男人说。
兰登不得不承认。"虽然历史学家们通常不提，但达。芬奇确实是一个同性恋者。"
"这就是他全身心投入女性崇拜中的原因吗？"
"实际上，达。芬奇也赞同男性与女性之间的和谐。他相信，只有男性元素和女性元素共存，人的心灵才能被照亮。""就像少妇身上长阴茎吧？"有人喊道。
这一问引得众人捧腹大笑。兰登本想指出单词"阴阳人（hermaphrodite）"的词根划分，并说明它与赫尔墨斯（Hermes）和阿芙洛蒂忒（Aphrodite）的联系，但他看出大家似乎无法接受，于是作罢。
"嗨，兰登先生。"一个肌肉发达的男人问。"《蒙娜丽莎》画的就是达。芬奇，这是真的吗？听说是真的。""很有可能。"兰登答道。"达。芬奇是个爱搞恶作剧的人。电脑分析显示，《蒙娜丽莎》和达。芬奇自画像在人物的脸部有许多相似之处。无论达。芬奇是怎么想的，他的蒙娜丽莎既不是男性也不是女性。她巧妙地隐藏着双性信息。她是两性的融合体。""你肯定，那些认为蒙娜丽莎是个丑陋少妇的说法不是哈佛大学的观点。"
兰登笑了起来。"说得对。其实，达。芬奇留下了一条重大的线索暗示人物是双性的。有没有人听说过有一个埃及传说中的神叫做阿蒙（Amon）？"
"知道！"那个大高个儿说。"代表男性生殖的神！"
兰登颇为吃惊。
"每一盒阿蒙牌避孕套上都这么写着。"那个肌肉发达的男人咧嘴笑了。"盒子上画着一个长着公羊头的家伙，还写着他是埃及传说中代表男性生殖的神。"兰登对这个牌子并不熟悉，但他还是很高兴，因为生产厂家没把象征意义弄错。"说得对。阿蒙的形象是一个长着公羊头的男人。我们现在所说的‘性冲动’的俚语，就与他那卷曲的羊角和性乱交行为有关。""他妈的，真想不到！"
"他妈的，想不到吧。"兰登说。"你们知道谁是与阿蒙对应的神吗？谁是埃及传说中代表女性生殖的神？"
好几秒钟的沉默。
"是伊西丝（Isis）"，兰登告诉众人。他拿起一支水笔，边说边把话写了下来。"代表男性生殖的神叫阿蒙（Amon）。代表女性生殖的神叫伊西丝（Isis），古代文字曾将其读做L‘ISA.’兰登写完，退到幻灯机后。
AMONL’ISA"得到些什么启示？"兰登问。
"蒙娜丽莎（MonaLisa）……狗屁胡扯。"有人低声说。
兰登点点头。"先生们，不仅蒙娜丽莎的脸看上去是双性的，就连她的名字也是由男性元素和女性元素结合而成的。朋友们，这就是达。芬奇的小秘密，也是蒙娜丽莎为何总在会意地微笑的原因。""祖父在这里。"索菲突然在距《蒙娜丽莎》只有十英尺处蹲下身来。她将紫外线灯指向地板的一点。
起初，兰登什么也没看见。当他在索菲身边蹲下后，发现地板上有一小滴已经干掉的感光液体。墨水？忽然他意识到紫外线灯的用处。血。他激动起来。索菲说得对，雅克。索尼埃死前确实来过这里。
"他不会无缘无故地来到这里。"索菲轻声说着站起身来。"我知道他一定给我留下了信息。"她大步走到《蒙娜丽莎》跟前，用灯照亮画的正前方。她将光束在画前的地板上来回晃动。
"这儿什么也没有！"
正在这时，兰登发现《蒙娜丽莎》前面的防护玻璃框上有一个模糊的紫色亮点。兰登抓住索菲的手腕，将光束向上移，指向《蒙娜丽莎》本身。
两人都愣住了。
在蒙娜丽莎脸部前方的防护玻璃上，有六个潦草的单词闪着紫色的光。
收听单词发音 |
1
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
pane
|
|
| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
salon
|
|
| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
tingle
|
|
| vi.感到刺痛，感到激动；n.刺痛，激动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
anticipation
|
|
| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
cocoon
|
|
| n.茧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
emanating
|
|
| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
parquet
|
|
| n.镶木地板 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
interpretations
|
|
| n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
conspiracy
|
|
| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
accomplishment
|
|
| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
reverence
|
|
| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
artistic
|
|
| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
veneration
|
|
| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
collage
|
|
| n.拼贴画；v.拼贴；把……创作成拼贴画 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
allusions
|
|
| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
inmates
|
|
| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
penitentiary
|
|
| n.感化院；监狱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
projector
|
|
| n.投影机，放映机，幻灯机 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
uneven
|
|
| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
discrepancy
|
|
| n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
chuckled
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
winced
|
|
| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
tune
|
|
| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
elicited
|
|
| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
hearty
|
|
| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
etymological
|
|
| adj.语源的，根据语源学的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
stunned
|
|
| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
hieroglyphs
|
|
| n.象形字（如古埃及等所用的）( hieroglyph的名词复数 )；秘密的或另有含意的书写符号 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
promiscuity
|
|
| n.混杂，混乱；（男女的）乱交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
droplet
|
|
| n.小滴，飞沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
tingled
|
|
| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
illuminated
|
|
| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
glimmer
|
|
| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
scrawled
|
|
| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |