Trial aims to breaks The Da Vinci Code

Art experts and conservative clerics are holding an unusual “trial” in the hometown of Leonardo da Vinci: concerned about the legions of fans of the The Da Vinci Code who take claims in the book as gospel truth, the mock tribunal aims to sort out fact from fiction.

The event in in the Italian town of Vinci, just outside of Florence, began late yesterday with an opening statement by Alessandro Vezzosi, director of a Leonardo museum.

He said he will produce photographs and documents as evidence of the mistakes and historical inaccuracies contained in Dan Brown’s smash hit novel.

“Leonardo is misrepresented and belittled,” Vezzosi said in a telephone interview hours before the event began. ”His importance is misunderstood. He was a man full of fantasy, inventions and genius.”

Vezzosi said he will produce evidence through 120 photographs based on documents and paintings with the aim of “reassessing and disclaiming the author” of the mystical thriller, a mix of code-breaking, art history, secret societies, religion and lore.

Vezzosi said one example of the mistakes contained in the book is the statement that the Mona Lisa was made in Leonardo’s image. “There’s a very big difference between Mona Lisa’s and Leonardo’s noses, mouths, eyes and expressions,” he said, adding that he will compare two portraits to prove it.

Organisers said there would be nobody speaking in the Da Vinci Code’s defence, and the “verdict” would be contained within the presentations of the speakers. But that didn’t mean the book would be completely hung out to dry - hundreds of the book’s fans were expected to attend the trial at Vinci’s Palazzina Uzielli.

“The Da Vinci Code” has sold more than 7.5 million copies worldwide and is expected to be made into a film. Its success has inspired guided tours in Paris that take fans to sites described in the novel, and has also spawned a cottage industry in books seeking to debunk it.

More than 10 books have been written trying to discredit the historical and theological content of Brown’s novel. The book portrays Roman Catholic leaders as demonising women for centuries and covering up the truth about the Holy Grail.

The novel’s contentious allegations – namely, that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and sired a bloodline – have provoked unprecedented protest among Roman Catholic and Protestant conservatives, who claimed that Brown’s characters inaccurately malign Christianity.

Monsignor Renato Bellini, vicar of Vinci, said the book reveals nothing about religion and contains a mystifying and inaccurate portrait of the conservative Catholic movement Opus Dei.