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molly bloom
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Lundenwic
Oct 2001
time: 15:20
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This is presumably some kind of early April Fools' Day jape by the Vatican- I mean, a Cardinal criticising a book for telling big hairy fibs about religion ?
Whatever next- the Vatican telling the truth about the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, or coming clean about what is and isn't fiction in the bible ?
" Who killed God's banker?
Jim McBeth
The Ģ9,000 Patek Philippe watch on the wrist of Roberto Calvi was exclusive, but not waterproof. Its hands had stopped at 1:50am, the approximate time the man, who was to become known as "Gods Banker", died.
Since that day - 19 June 1982 - the official story is that he committed suicide.
Calvis body was found suspended under Blackfriars Bridge in London by a length of orange cord around his neck and the water of the Thames swirling about his hand-crafted leather shoes. Seven bricks were stuffed into the pockets of his clothes and the waistband of his trousers. In the inside jacket pocket of his elegant grey suit, he had four pairs of spectacles and a false Italian passport. His wallet contained Ģ10,000 in Sterling, Swiss francs and Italian lire.
In the week before his death, the former head of the disgraced Banco Ambrosiano, the largest private banking institution in Italy, had made a gruelling, clandestine journey, smuggled from his homeland to London. It involved three false identities, eight flights around Europe, a speed boat journey from the former Yugoslavia, four different car trips and 14 temporary residences in Zurich, Amsterdam, Edinburgh and London.
Calvi, who became known as "Gods Banker" because of his close association with the Vatican, had been forced to flee Italy after his Banco Ambrosiano went bankrupt with debts of up to Ģ1 billion.
It was later learned that much of the money had been siphoned off via the Vatican bank, which was run by Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, an American.
The Vatican later refused to admit any legal responsibility for the banks downfall but did acknowledge it had a "moral involvement" and paid Ģ200 million to its creditors.
However, the Vatican, in the person of Pope John Paul II, has consistently refused to hand Marcinkus over to the Italian authorities. The Archbishop, whom John Paul II brought with him on his 1982 visit to Scotland, is now living in a humble US parish under the protection of a Vatican State diplomatic passport. "
http://news.scotsman.com/archive.cf..._CUR_DOCUMENT=1
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molly bloom
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Lundenwic
Oct 2001
time: 15:20
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeH
Fiction book in not fact shocker.
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Yes but the author has not done himself any favours by claiming in television interviews that his book is more akin to (ghastly word) 'faction'.
It's not exactly 'Schindler's Ark' we're talking about is it ?
It's a concatenation and conflation of myths, hoaxes and misinterpretations into a worldwide bestseller, lapped up by the usual slack-jawed credulous types who'd believe anything with a spurious wrapping of historical 'authenticity' . There are apparently already 'Da Vinci Code' tours of Paris:
" Da Vinci mystery tour piques Paris
Amelia Gentleman, Paris
Sunday September 12, 2004
The Observer
The Church of St Sulpice has many attractions - notably its Delacroix mural. So it is a matter of deep regret to church officials that most visitors are now attracted primarily by a huge bronze candlestick, used by an evil albino monk to batter a nun to death in Dan Brown's best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code.
Some 20,000 people have visited the Left Bank building over the summer, most in search of the vivid murder scene set in the church.
With more than 10 million copies sold worldwide - 500,000 in French - The Da Vinci Code has now given birth to its own tourist industry: three companies have recently launched tours of Paris taking in the book's principal locations - the Gare St Lazare, the Ritz, the US Embassy and the Louvre.
The Louvre's official position is disdainful. 'None of our curators will talk about the book. It's a work of fiction and we don't see it as our job to discuss it,' a woman in the press office says.
But, at the information booth, Daniel-Richard Leroy is more helpful. Most intriguing to him is the question of whether Pei's glass pyramid really has 666 panes of glass, as the book suggests, in a deliberate Satanic reference. He has counted only 634: 'It's very simple to calculate, and it's quite obvious that there aren't 666 of them.'
The Da Vinci tourists make their way from the pyramid to cast a quick glance at the Mona Lisa, but are primarily interested in the stretch of parquet where the naked body of the Louvre's elderly curator is discovered. "
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/inte...02649%2C00.html
Aaahh yes. Here's a work by one of the most famous polymaths ever to have lived, showcasing his technique of sfumato, a painting world famous for the enigmatic expression on the subject's face.
And here's a bit of parquet flooring mentioned in a trashy bestseller.
Ooohh, that gloriously wrought parquet, how wonderful to me and infinitely preferable to a portrait by da Vinci.
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16-03-2005 13:44
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