Illuminati (novel)
Illuminati is the German title of a thriller by Dan Brown ( English original title: Angels & Demons , 2000) published in Germany in March 2003 with a worldwide circulation of eight million copies.
The plot revolves around an alleged attempt by the Illuminati , a secret society that has existed for centuries until today, according to the novel , to destroy the Catholic Church . The real motive , however, is the Catholic Church's ideological rapprochement with science through the late Pope . It also deals with conspiracy , betrayal , the conclave and the rules of the Vatican that have been preserved until now. The action takes place in the present in a single day. Places of action are Boston , Switzerland (research institute CERN ), Italy ( Rome ) and above all the Vatican City .
First and foremost, it is about the relationship between science and religion , which are portrayed as being enemies since ancient times. There have always been people who wanted to unite the two, but the gap was too deep. Brown argues through his main characters that both could and should exist together in peace.
The 700-page novel shows a long arc of tension . It is mainly based on the fact that a contract killer is active and the Vatican is to be destroyed by an explosion that has been announced. The narrative perspective is that of the 3rd person (authorial narrative situation).
content
The physicist and Catholic priest Leonardo Vetra is found murdered in his office at CERN . His head is turned back and one eye is missing. An ambigram with the inscription Illuminati is branded on his chest . Maximilian Kohler, the general director of CERN, then lets Robert Langdon , a symbolologist from Harvard University , fly in, and a short time later, Vetra's adopted daughter Vittoria, who is also employed as a physicist and marine biologist at CERN, arrives . She explains to the gentlemen that her father, who strived for the union of religion and science, created antimatter and thus reproduced the Big Bang on a smaller scale in the particle accelerator . At Vittoria's request, father and daughter had jointly produced a quarter gram of the antimatter, which would destroy everything within a radius of around one kilometer if it came into contact with matter. In the underground laboratory, Vittoria is shocked to discover that the Illuminati have overcome the retina scanner with Leonardo's eye and stole the container with the antimatter, whose magnetic field is only supplied with energy for 24 hours.
When CERN receives news that the Illuminati have infiltrated the Vatican and hid the antimatter, Langdon and Vittoria fly to Rome. Now it becomes clear what extent the threatening explosion would have. With the headquarters of the Catholic Church, the Illuminati would not only destroy their arch enemy, but also all cardinals who are currently gathering for the conclave in the Sistine Chapel . After the two scientists have informed Colonel Olivetti, the commander of the Swiss Guard , and the Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca about the danger, an assassin reports who kidnapped the four favorites of the papal election (i preferiti) on behalf of the Illuminati . From 8 p.m. on every hour on the hour, one of the four cardinals is to be murdered somewhere in Rome on an "altar of science". In addition, the assassin contacts the BBC reporter Gunther Glick to use the media as the “right arm of terrorism”.
In Galileo Galileo's work Diagrama della Verità , which is in the Vatican secret archive , Langdon and Vittoria find the first clues to the "path of enlightenment ", which is supposed to lead via the four elements to the secret meeting place of the Illuminati. Langdon suspects "Santis irdne's grave" to be in the Pantheon , but what is meant is a grave that was created by the builder Raffael . It is located in the Chigi Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo . Because of the mistake, Langdon and Vittoria as well as Olivetti's Swiss Guard are late. Cardinal Ebner from Frankfurt has already been suffocated with earth and is branded EARTH . In the meantime, Glick and his videographer have also recognized that there are more interesting reports than the conclave. The sculpture Habakkuk and the Angel placed in the Chigi Chapel refers to the next scene in the series of murders.
On St. Peter's Square , the West Ponente plaque next to the obelisk serves as a link to the element of air. There the assassin lays Cardinal Lamassé from Paris with his lungs pierced and the brand AIR . Langdon and Vittoria were again unable to prevent the murder and are filmed by the BBC. Now all the media around the world are reporting on the unrest in the Vatican and spreading the rumor that the deceased Pope was poisoned with heparin . Vittoria, along with the Camerlengo, who was raised by the Holy Father, examines the corpse, whose black tongue confirms the murder. Along with a list of Bernini's works, Langdon finds out that the rapture of St. Theresa is the next signpost.
When Langdon and Vittoria arrive at the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria , the assassin has already lit a large fire there, over which Cardinal Guidera from Barcelona is chained and burned alive. The mark FIRE is emblazoned on his chest . When Vittoria discovers Colonel Olivetti, who has also been murdered, she is kidnapped by the assassin. Langdon gets under a stone sarcophagus from which the fire department rescues him. In the meantime, the Camerlengo has interrupted the conclave to reach the media with an emotional address in which he portrays the success of science as a Pyrrhic victory in which people have lost their religious orientation.
Langdon finds out that the Altars of Science are arranged in the shape of a cross and that the last cardinal is to be executed at the Four Rivers Fountain . The American arrives at the scene in time this time, but cannot prevent the assassin from drowning the Italian Cardinal Baggia. After using a deception to save himself from drowning, Langdon notices that the dove on the obelisk serves as a substitute for an angel and points to the Illuminati Church, Castel Sant'Angelo . Langdon arrives just in time to save Vittoria from the hit man. Together they manage to overthrow the assassins from the balcony and kill them with it. When they look over to the Vatican, they are surprised to see how Maximilian Kohler is received as the " Samaritan of the eleventh hour". Kohler is reportedly Janus, the head of the Illuminati, who will personally kill the Camerlengo as the final enemy.
Langdon and Vittoria run through the Passetto from Castel Sant'Angelo to the Vatican to the papal office, where the Camerlengo and Kohler met for a private conversation. Since Kohler is considered Janus, he is shot. Shortly before his death, the general manager, who really only wants to get revenge for the fact that his religious parents made him crippled, can hand Langdon a small camcorder with an important message. The Camerlengo bears the brand with all four ambigrams on its chest, the diamond of the Illuminati.
Langdon and Vittoria try to take the seriously injured Camerlengo to the hospital. However, you only get to the stairs in front of St. Peter's Basilica. The Camerlengo pretends to be a divine inspiration in front of the people gathered in St. Peter's Square and descends into the necropolis in St. Peter's Basilica, followed by Langdon, Vittoria, three Swiss Guards and the BBC camera, which broadcasts the event live. The camerlengo takes the antimatter it found on the tomb of St. Peter upstairs. A few minutes before midnight, he and Langdon fly up in a helicopter vertically above St. Peter's Square. The antimatter explodes at a sufficient height without harming anyone in the Vatican. A few moments later, people see the Camerlengo like a divine apparition on St. Peter's Basilica.
He parachuted out of the helicopter shortly before the explosion. Langdon was also able to save himself from the annihilation of the antimatter in time and was treated in the hospital on the Tiber Island after landing in the Tiber . There he gets to hear the audio from the camcorder, as the display was destroyed during the helicopter flight, which shows a confession by the Camerlengo. Ventresca admits to murdering Leonardo Vetra and the Pope and hiring the assassin. When Langdon shows the shocked cardinals in the Sistine Chapel the video, the Camerlengo also reveals that the Pope has fathered a child. In addition to his aversion to science, this gave him another motive for his murders. The Illuminati only served as an excuse to frighten people. However, only Master of Ceremonies Mortati, who acted as advocatus diaboli for the deceased Pope, reveals the whole truth. The child of the Pope, who became the father through artificial insemination and thus without violating the vow of chastity , is Ventresca himself.
The Camerlengo stages its self-immolation in front of the people in St. Peter's Square and on the television screens. All those involved, who know about the real events, undertake to remain silent in order not to destroy the faith that has germinated in many people through the miraculous "salvation" of the Vatican. The cardinals elect Mortati as the new Pope in the conclave. BBC reporter Glick reveals that Ventresca was also elected Pope for a few minutes by acclamation . Langdon, who receives the Illuminati diamond as a permanent loan from the Vatican, retires with Vittoria to the Hotel Bernini. There they live out the affection that has developed for one another in the last few days / hours.
Characters of the act
The novel has several main characters and numerous secondary characters, which - like the story - are all fictional.
Robert Langdon
The 45-year-old protagonist Robert Langdon is a professor of art history specializing in symbolology at Harvard University . The unmarried man, who is considered an accomplished specialist, studied not only art history but also architecture. In earlier years he was a high diver and swimmer, which saves his life in the four rivers fountain.
He suffers from claustrophobia that dates back to childhood when he fell into a deep well in an open field and almost died. Several times in history this fear almost became his undoing. Robert Langdon's trademark is a Mickey Mouse wrist watch that glows in the dark. He has been wearing these since childhood and they have a calming effect on him, especially in situations in which his claustrophobia occurs. His father died after he crashed in an elevator in the Eiffel Tower. Robert, he was still a child at the time, survived the crash.
The character Robert Langdon is also the main character in the bestsellers The Da Vinci Code , The Lost Symbol , Inferno and Origin , which were also written by Dan Brown .
Leonardo Vetra
Leonardo Vetra is a particle physicist at CERN and a Catholic priest . Vittoria Vetra's adoptive father developed the manufacture of antimatter , while his daughter researched the complex process of conservation. He also looked for connections between science and religion. He is the first murder victim in the book ("Science and religion are not a contradiction. Science is just too young to understand"), so he simulated the big bang with antimatter on a much smaller scale . His cut-out eye was used to allow the alleged Illuminati to gain access to his laboratory, which was secured by a retinal scanner, and to steal the antimatter container. He and his daughter did research successfully with antimatter for a long time. It should become the energy source of the future, i.e. it should be used peacefully. Since Kohler thought Leonardo was extremely talented, he let him go for a long time and asked no questions about his activities.
Vittoria Vetra
Vittoria Vetra is a physicist and marine biologist at CERN as well as a yoga teacher. She is Leonardo's adopted daughter and arrives at CERN almost at the same time as Langdon. The two are henceforth involved in everything that happens.
Maximilian Kohler
Maximilian Kohler is the general director of CERN . He suffers severely from asthma and what appears to be paraplegia, uses an electric wheelchair and looks unemotional. He despises the Church because he blames her for his handicap. As a child, his devout parents did not allow the attending physicians to give their sick son drugs that would have cured him. If a doctor hadn't given him an injection unnoticed, he would have died. Kohler gives himself completely to science and is respected by the staff (he is called "King Kohler" by the researchers at CERN). He was in contact with the Vatican shortly before the murders . He's the one who can keep the police out of the picture all the time and "fly in" Robert Langdon from America. Later he comes to the Vatican City as the "Samaritan of the eleventh hour", ie as the (alleged) savior of the Vatican. However, he is mistakenly mistaken for the man who gave the assassin orders under the code name "Janus" and is therefore shot.
Colonel Olivetti
Colonel Olivetti is the commander of the Swiss Guard ; Colonel Olivetti informs Kohler that the antimatter container is in Vatican City and demands an explanation from Langdon and Vittoria. He is very suspicious of the two and initially refuses to cooperate with them . After Langdon locates the First Altar of Science, Olivetti accompanies him and Vittoria and does everything possible to save the Cardinals and capture the Assassin. In Santa Maria della Vittoria the assassin breaks his neck.
Captain Rocher
Captain Elias Rocher is an officer in the Swiss Guard and Kohler's liaison . He leads the search for the antimatter container and, despite the lack of success, is confident that he will find the container in time. Rocher is informed of the betrayal of the Camerlengo by Kohler and then allows him to visit him. Rocher deliberately lets Kohler inside armed. After everything looks like Kohler is actually “Janus” and has attacked the Camerlengo, the Swiss Guard shoots the General Director of CERN. Rocher is accused of being Illuminatus by the Camerlengo and shot by Chartrand.
Lieutenant Chartrand
Leutnant Chartrand is a young and committed lieutenant in the Swiss Guard who always remains brave. In the end he shoots Rocher in the belief that this will save the Camerlengo from an Illuminati supporter.
The assassin
The unknown assassin is an Arab-born assassins of the Illuminati (as he assumes). He first kills Leonardo Vetra and then murders the four kidnapped papal candidates. In the Castel Sant'Angelo he himself is killed by Langdon and Vittoria.
Carlo Ventresca
Meaning of the name Ventresca: Compound from it. la ventre = belly, body and it. esca = subjunctive form of uscire = leave, go out.
Carlo Ventresca is the Pope's trusted secretary before his death; this function is (incorrectly) called Camerlengo in the novel .
He is raised by his mother Maria, whom he always affectionately calls "Maria benedetta". When asked about his father, his mother always replies that he died before Carlos was born and that God would now be his father. She raises him strictly Catholic by taking the boy to mass every day.
While on vacation in Sicily, the church they are in at the time is bombed. Carlo is the only survivor. He later says that God saved him by calling him to a sheltered corner.
A bishop from Palermo finally takes care of him and Carlo lives and learns among monks. When Carlo turns 16, he voluntarily decides to serve in the army in order to better understand evil. He refuses to fire a gun, so he is taught to fly a helicopter. After two years he joins the seminary. When the bishop is elected Pope, he takes his protégé with him and appoints him his Camerlengo. After his return from CERN, where Leonardo Vetra believes to have understood the Big Bang, the Pope reveals to him that he had fathered a child. Hurt and disappointed about this betrayal of God and the Church (his mother always told him that a promise to God was the most important promise of all), Carlo finally finds himself in front of Peter's grave, where he believes God was his commission to obtain. Thereupon he murdered the Pope with heparin, which he needed every day, and pretended to be Janus, the leader of the Illuminati, to commission the assassins with the further murders.
When Maximilian Kohler confronts Carlo with his deeds, he brands himself with the Illuminati diamond. While seriously injured and deliriously carried outside, he suddenly jumps up and pretends to receive a message from God telling him the position of antimatter. He and Langdon use a helicopter to get rid of the antimatter. Carlo jumps out of the helicopter with the only parachute and lands safely in the Vatican Gardens. Then he climbs to St. Peter's Basilica and presents a perfect miracle to the cheering crowds.
But Langdon had previously received a videotape from Kohler that recorded Carlos' confession. Carlo tries to justify his actions in front of the terrified cardinals, but only meets with incomprehension. Then Cardinal Mortati explains the whole story to Carlo: that the Pope fell in love with a nun, Maria, that her child was conceived through artificial insemination and therefore (according to the novel) no vow was broken. Mortati finally reveals that Carlo is the birth child of the Pope.
When Carlo realizes the consequences of his actions, he takes his own life by lighting himself on the papal balcony and thus rising to heaven for the crowd on St. Peter's Square as in a sea of flames. His ashes are secretly buried in an urn in his father's sarcophagus.
As it turns out later, the Cardinals unknowingly elected Carlo Pope when they shouted his name with joy in the confusion of the evening.
Cardinal Mortati
The 79-year-old Saverio Cardinal Mortati is a member of the College of Cardinals and is in charge of the papal election . His person gains importance towards the end of the novel, when he admits to have known about the Pope's child and is finally elected as the new Pope. He finally has Langdon hand over the Illuminati branding stamp in diamond form ("Earth, Air, Fire, Water") in the form of an ambigram as a permanent loan with the request that he return this ambigram to the church in his will.
Gunther Glick
Gunther Glick is a BBC television reporter and hobby symbolologist who reports for the BBC for the first time (he was previously a reporter for the tabloid British Tattler ), is hired by the assassin exclusively for reporting. He sees this as a stepping stone for his career and knows how to take advantage of this unique opportunity immediately.
Chinita Macri
The 43-year-old African American woman Chinita Macri is Glick's camera woman (in the book "videographer"), consisting of the southern states of the USA originates; the newly formed team should actually report on the conclave, but moves away from it on its own initiative. Both write television history and experience the high point of their careers.
The Preferiti
The 4 Preferiti are the four cardinals who are considered favorites for the papacy. Among them were the German Cardinal Ebner from Frankfurt, Cardinal Lamassé from Paris / France, Cardinal Guidera from Barcelona / Spain and Cardinal Baggia from Milan / Italy.
The path to enlightenment
According to Brown, the path of enlightenment is the path that those interested in the Order of Illuminati originally had to take to find the Church of Enlightenment - Castel Sant'Angelo . In the book, the path to enlightenment is also the only way to track down the assassin.
The path of enlightenment is made up of: the sign (Il segno) , the signposts and the “altars of science”. These ultimately show the way to the meeting place of the Illuminati - the "Church of Illumination ". Langdon aptly assumes that the Altars of Science (L'altare di Scienzia) have both the signposts and the announced executions. The Swiss Guards and Langdon therefore go in search of the assassin. Langdon goes to the Vatican's secret archives to look for Il segno . Langdon searches for information relating to the number of Illuminati: 503. In Galileo's diagramma della veritá , written in 1639 (his third work, "D III"), Langdon finds a handwritten poem with iambic five-pounders by John Milton ; it reads in the original:
- "From Santi's earthly tomb with demon's hole
- 'Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold
- The path of light is laid, the sacred test
- Let angels guide you on your lofty quest. "
The translation into German is:
- "From Santi's earthly grave in demon's hole,
- The mystical primordial materials are drawn through Rome.
- The path of light is laid, the sacred test,
- Let angels guide you on an airy quest . "
The poem is written in English (the "pure language" - lingua pura ), while the rest was written in Latin; this should make the reader aware (only Italian or German was spoken in the Vatican at the time). It can be assumed that Brown starts out from English as the “common language” of the Illuminati in order to spare the American reading public from having to deal with another European language.
The poem provides valuable information on the locations of the "Altars of Science" and the "Church of Enlightenment", including the final note that the locations are arranged in a cross shape (four ends = four elements) over Rome and over the Vatican.
The "altars of science" are:
Chigi Chapel in the Santa Maria del Popolo Church
The Chigi- Chapel ( Capella Chigi ) in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo at the Porta del Popolo is a tribute to the element "earth". The architecture comes from Raffael Santi's hand, the sculptures and frescoes are from Bernini. In the red marble-lined chapel is the only tomb created by Raphael. It contains elements that are completely atypical for a church (pyramids, zodiac signs, etc.). For Langdon it quickly becomes clear that this altar of science is a tribute to the element earth and clearly also contains non-religious objects.
It was created for the papal banker Agostino Chigi († 1520) during his lifetime and was a commissioned work ; Raffael and Chigi were friends. Before the construction of the tomb, the chapel was called Capella della Terra (Earthen Chapel) . There are numerous references to the element earth:
The first victim, Cardinal Ebner from Frankfurt, is suffocated here with earth (sic!) And buried vertically in the ground. Two large pyramids with astrological symbols with signs of the zodiac , a domed ceiling with stars, elliptical plaques , the demon hole (cupermento) that leads to the ossuary , and Bernini's sculpture Habakkuk and the angel ( Habakkuk had predicted the end of the world , which has a certain symbolism here). Langdon is here pointed out by Vittoria Vetra that Bernini was the “unknown sculptor” of the Illuminati and therefore must have been an Illuminatus or at least was in the service of the order (“Bernini was an Illuminatus. Bernini created the ambigrams of the Illuminati. Bernini has laid out the path of enlightenment ” - Chapter 69 TB ).
Respiro di Dio
The plaque “West Ponente” (Respiro di Dio) at the foot of the obelisk in St. Peter's Square is a tribute to the element “ air ”. At the foot of the obelisk there are several plaques, including the elliptical white marble plaque “West Ponente” ( Respiro di Dio - Breath of God), made by Bernini.
The signpost (five wind rays) leads to over 20 church buildings without reference to Bernini or obelisks. Langdon then searches the Vatican archives for a workbook, since Bernini was in the service of the Vatican and all Catholic churches belong to the diocese of Rome = Vatican. Cardinal Lamassé, disguised as a homeless man, is murdered by stabbed lungs (hint of air) at the obelisk.
Santa Maria della Vittoria
The church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Piazza San Bernardo is a tribute to the element " fire ". In the Cornaro Chapel there is the sculpture Rapture of St. Theresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini . Here the Spanish Cardinal Guidera ( Barcelona ) is hung on chains and burned. Colonel Olivetti is murdered here by the assassin. The Hashishin tries to kill Langdon.
The reference to fire is given by the sculpture ("His large golden spear [...] filled with fire [...] struck me several times") . The angel is a seraph (nickname "the fiery").
Four rivers fountain
The four rivers fountain (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) is a tribute to the element " water ". It is located in Piazza Navona in front of the Church of Sant 'Agnese in Agone . The four male figures each symbolize the rivers Danube , Ganges , Nile and the Río de la Plata , which stood for one of the four continents known at the time .
The actual stone pigeon is the heraldic animal of the Pamphilj family. Cardinal Baggia is drowned here . Langdon intervenes, but can only save himself by pretending to be dead.
Others
- Pantheon , the tomb of Raphael (not one created by him); it has an opening in the dome (oculus) , but it has nothing to do with a demon hole. The architecture was a tribute to the goddess Gaia (purely theoretically, a ball would fit perfectly in the Pantheon).
- Vatican Apostolic Archives (Archivio Segreto Vaticano)
- Castel Sant'Angelo (Castel Sant 'Angelo) , including the alleged former Church of the Illuminati and with an actually existing passage to the papal apartments (Il Passetto)
- The Vatican necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica (La Tomba di San Pietro) - Above the shrine of the apostle Simon Peter was the St. Peter's Basilica built ( "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail . ”- Mt 16:18; Peter is the rock - Pietro è la pietra ); see Vatican Hill .
- St. Peter's Square
- Sistine Chapel (site of the conclave)
Remarks
Science versus religion
The battle of science against religion advocated by Brown never existed like this. Many scientists were religious (Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Pascal ...) and did not consider science and belief to be contradictions either. Scientific research has also been and continues to be carried out at church universities.
Fiction and reality
Brown mixes facts and legends in his book , invents historical connections, uses religious and philosophical positions and uses physical laws, although not everything corresponds to reality .
With regard to the presented scientific contexts, the book can be classified in the field of science fiction , since many of the processes described cannot currently be implemented according to the laws of nature known to us . For example, according to current scientific knowledge, the production of an antimatter bomb, as also in a comment by CERN on this topic, is considered to be ruled out, since the accumulation of a sufficient amount of antimatter is currently not possible and the production of such an amount is too high is expensive. In addition, the flash of light, similar to the atomic bomb, would immediately burn the audience.
What Brown offers as “creation out of nothing” is not a second act of creation that can be achieved with technical devices. The phenomenon described is the reaction of gamma quanta in a vacuum, during which energy is converted into matter. Dan Brown “invented” this process as a “creation out of nothing” - a theological problem - for his thriller. He uses this to get to the heart of one of the book's themes: the conflict between science and religion .
Brown writes in the foreword to Illuminati that only " works of art , crypts , tunnels and buildings in Rome" are based on facts and that "the brotherhood of the Illuminati exists". These assumptions are for the most part actually untrue (in particular, the location of the objects and their description do not always correspond to reality). The Illuminatiorden was only founded in 1776 and already banned in 1785 - there is no evidence that it will continue to exist after the ban, but it cannot be ruled out either.
Previous literature
The basic topic taken up by Brown has already been presented several times. The Illuminatus trilogy is particularly worth mentioning ! by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson from the years 1969 and 1970 as well as Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco of 1988. Obviously, Brown has also borrowed elements of these works (see below).
Vatican
Some of the assumptions made in the book about the conclave are incorrect. In theory, any male Catholic can be elected Pope and not, as Brown pointed out, just cardinals present . Nor are there any pre-determined preferences that would turn the conclave into a farce , and there are not necessarily four. Still, there are favorites for the office of Pope, called papabile . As shown in the book, cardinals over 80 are not allowed to vote, but they can be elected Pope. The possibility of acclamation voting was abolished in 1996 by Pope John Paul II . The Dean of the College of Cardinals (the novel Mortati) can be chosen contrary to the facts presented in the book readily Pope - last example of such a choice was Benedict XVI. in 2005. The Camerlengo does not necessarily belong to the College of Cardinals, but has always done so in the last 400 years and can also be elected Pope - the last time this was with Pius XII. The case in 1939. Locking the doors of the Sistine Chapel is one of the duties of the papal master of ceremonies (with the words "extra omnes"). There can be no cardinal of Frankfurt because there never was a diocese of Frankfurt.
The lingua franca of the Swiss Guard is German and Italian, not just Italian, as Brown claims.
Contrary to popular belief, the uniform was not designed by Michelangelo . Rather, it is correct that the current uniform was designed in 1914 by the then commandant Jules Repond, based on the style of the uniforms of the 16th century.
An autopsy of the deceased popes is actually waived, but such an autopsy would be allowed.
In addition, St. Peter's Square is said to be occupied by just a few tourists, children playing and beggars sunbathing at the time of the conclave. In Pope elections, there is usually a large number of believers in St. Peter's Square. The BBC and other television stations are said to have only sent a few reporters to shoot only a small "15-second report". In reality, on April 19, 2005, Habemus papam day , there was a live broadcast on many channels . About 6,000 journalists reported on the conclave in 2013 from the Vatican, around half of whom worked for various TV stations.
Rome
The St. Peter's Square has been part of the completion of the Lateran Treaty (1929) the territory of the Vatican City , while the novel in Chap. 72 called the territorial claims disputed. The Angel's Bridge - Ponte Sant'Angelo (built 134-139) is actually lined with ten angels rather than twelve; the two figures in front are human (the city saints Peter and Paul ).
The piazza in front of the Pantheon is called della Rot o nda and not della Rotunda , as it is called in the book. The Scala “Royale” will probably mean the Scala REGIA. Raphael's tomb is not elaborately designed, on the contrary, it is very simple. Raphael was actually, at his own request, buried in the Pantheon immediately after his death in 1520 and not until the 18th century, as stated in the novel.
The church of Santa Maria della Vittoria is not in Piazza Barberini, but 500 m away from it (Via XX Settembre). The angel in the sculpture “The Rapture of Saint Theresa ”, who is not a seraph as claimed in the book , points his arrow downwards and not to the Piazza Navona , as the book claims; the church is also not facing east , but rather oriented almost exactly to the north-west.
On the Piazza Barberini there was never an obelisk. The aforementioned Antinous Obelisk has been on Pincio Hill since 1822 , when the subway was not yet invented.
The Chigi Chapel has no unchristian symbols. Starry skies or signs of the zodiac are not uncommon in churches, but they do not appear in the Chigi Chapel itself. In addition, only the smallest part of the chapel comes from Bernini, two of the four statues, but neither frescoes nor floors. The church tower of Santa Maria del Popolo is also too low to have a view of the city. The church is also free on the Piazza del Popolo. So there is no dark alley. In addition, the angel next to Habakkuk does not point to St. Peter's Square, as is claimed in the book, but roughly in the direction of the Pantheon.
The alleged Illuminati symbols "pyramid and star" that Langdon sees in the Pantheon and on the Porta del Popolo actually represent six hills - the coat of arms of Pope Alexander VII.
The pigeon on the Vierströmebrunnen, which looks in the direction of the Castel Sant'Angelo, is removed annually by the Roman city cleaning and put back in any position. It can therefore not serve as a guide . There are no hoses in the well to pump air into the water.
Numerous errors were made in the Italian language edition, such as: B. corrected the address of Santa Maria della Vittoria.
technology
Wireless surveillance cameras can be easily located and identified as long as they are transmitting. In this respect, the transmission of the image of the antimatter container is not a process that could occupy a large search party for hours without result.
The container for storing antimatter should be powered by a rechargeable battery. It is unrealistic that this battery should be exhausted after exactly 24 hours.
people
In contrast to what is based on the book, the elliptical shape of the planetary orbits was not recognized by Galileo Galilei , who insisted on circular orbits, but by Johannes Kepler .
Neither Galileo nor John Milton , who was actually in Rome in 1638, were members of the Illuminati Order, which was only founded 140 years later. Even Cecil Rhodes was not Illuminat but Freemasons .
Nicolaus Copernicus was not charged and executed by the Catholic Church. Rather, he died a natural death. Dan Brown presumably confuses Copernicus with Giordano Bruno , who was burned in Rome in 1600 on the Campo de 'Fiori for heresy .
Contrary to what was suggested in chapter 63, Winston Churchill was not a Catholic but an Anglican .
Illuminati
Dan Brown's statements about the Illuminati are largely fiction or stem from Illuminati conspiracy theories . The order of the Illuminati , to which the term became famous, existed between 1776 and 1785, that is, long after Galileo Galilei (1564–1642). That is why Bernini (1598–1680) could not have worked on behalf of the Order of the Illuminati.
The Alumbrados existed during Galileo's lifetime, but the movement was limited to Spain and, with the exception of the same name, had nothing to do with the Illuminati Order.
Illuminati used neither ambigrams nor brand marks, and a large "Illuminati diamond" has not been handed down as a stamp or as a mineral (cf. Illuminati in the novel ).
There are no sources about the French Guerenets .
The interpretation of the back of the US seal on the dollar bill that Langdon gives within the novel has no basis whatsoever. Dan Brown's tendency to twist facts into a suitable form should be made clear by the incorrect quotation of the banner: Instead of “ novus ordo seclorum ” (Latin for “a new order of the ages”) Dan Brown quotes “Novus Ordo Saeculorum” (new secular Order). In addition, this idea is part of the Illuminatus trilogy ! borrowed from Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson .
The statement that the All-Seeing Eye is a symbol of the Illuminati, an anti-religious association based on Dan Brown's novel, is also to be classified as unrealistic. The symbol can be found in numerous churches, it symbolizes the all-seeing, triune God. It is also used in freemasonry . Already in Illuminatus! the assignment of this symbol to the Illuminati can be found.
Brown's remark, "The brotherhood of the Illuminati exists," is correct in that there are still smaller brotherhoods that call themselves Illuminati or Illuminati, but not in the form described in the novel.
There is also the game Illuminati: New World Order of Steve Jackson Games (in the book Steve Jackson computer games ), while it does not concern however a online computer game , but a trading card game based on the card game Illuminati .
popularity
In the survey for the ZDF broadcast Our Best - The Germans' Favorite Books, in which Germans could choose their favorite books, this book made it to 19th place.
Sequels
The main character of this book, Robert Langdon, is also the main character in four other novels by Dan Brown : The Da Vinci Code (English title. The Da Vinci Code ), which was published in 2004 in German translation, The Lost Symbol in 2009, Inferno , released in May 2013, and Origin from 2017.
Audio book
The German audio book was published in two different editions. One edition is read by Ralph Herforth , the other (better known) by Wolfgang Pampel . The abridged version of the novel, which both are reading, is 412 or 437 minutes long, which are divided into 90 or 94 tracks and 6 CDs . The edition with Ralph Herforth was recorded in 2003 in the SMT Sound Master recording studio in Berlin and the edition with Wolfgang Pampel also in 2003 in the DaCapo Studio in Breckerfeld , both by Lübbe GmbH & Co. KG from Bergisch Gladbach . Lübbe Audio used the theatrical release of “Illuminati” to publish an unabridged reading in April 2009. Just like the abridged reading published in 2004, the new version will also be read by Wolfgang Pampel. The editorial team had Dr. Arno Hoven, director and production Marc Sieper, director of the second edition Kerstin Kaiser.
filming
Following the success of Da Vinci Code , Sony Pictures commissioned the prequel Illuminati . The two producers Brian Grazer and John Calley as well as director Ron Howard and Langdon actor Tom Hanks were there again. The Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer took on the role of Vittoria Vetra and the Camerlengo was played by Ewan McGregor . Since the film team was not given permission to shoot in the Vatican due to the subject matter, St. Peter's Square and other locations in Los Angeles had to be recreated. The film opened in German cinemas on May 13, 2009 and was available on DVD and Blu-Ray from October 23, 2009 .
Thriller themes
In Illuminati, various social and theological topics are broached. First and foremost, it is about the relationship between science and religion . Brown argues through his characters that, at least since the condemnation of Galileo Galilei , laypeople have found it difficult to trust both areas of life equally. There have always been people who wanted to unite science and religion, such as Leonardo Vetra, but the gap was usually too deep (p. 68 TB ).
The author argues through his main characters that both can and should exist harmoniously with one another. This is particularly evident in Carlo Ventresca's speech, in which he shows the responsibility that religion and science have for one another, according to Brown:
“Whether you believe in God or not ... you have to believe one thing. When we as a species give up our belief in a power that stands above us, we give up our sense of responsibility at the same time. "
According to the blurb of his novels, Dan Brown himself grew up as the son of a mathematician and a church musician in an environment in which science and religion are not mutually exclusive. Dan Brown also discusses how much power he thinks the media have and how much they influence people. According to his account, there is often a risk that the media will be misused for other purposes:
"'The media are the right arm of terrorism.'"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Path of Illumination - Earth ( English ) danbrown.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ↑ Path of Illumination - Air ( English ) danbrown.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ↑ Path of Illumination - FIRE ( English ) danbrown.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ↑ Path of Illumination - Water ( English ) danbrown.com. Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ↑ Angels and Demons. Retrieved April 19, 2020 . , on public-archive.web.cern.ch
- ↑ Adam Sosnowski: Pamiętnik Konklawe 2013 [The conclave diary 2013] . Krakow 2013, ISBN 978-83-7553-147-3 , pp. 200 .
- ↑ The official web site of bestselling author Dan Brown ( Memento of April 10, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Peter Arens "Our Best - The Great Reading" The biggest reading campaign ever , on zdf-jahrbuch.de
- ↑ Official website for the film ( Memento from February 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
literature
- Dan Brown: Illuminati. Lübbe , Bergisch Gladbach 2003, ISBN 3-404-14866-5
- Dan Brown: Illuminati. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 2003, ISBN 3-404-77001-3 (audio version, playing time 437 minutes, abridged novel version)
- Dan Burstein, Arne J. de Keijzer: The secret brotherhood. Goldmann , Munich 2005, ISBN 3-442-15359-X
- Simon Cox: Illuminati deciphered. Heyne , Munich 2005, ISBN 3-453-43126-X
- Oliver Mittelbach: Dan Brown's thriller locations as travel destinations. books & friends, Essen 2006, ISBN 3-9809408-4-5 ( Da Vinci Code Tour through Paris and London, Illuminati Tour through Rome, Diabolus Tour through Seville Dan Brown's thriller locations as a travel destination ( Memento from October 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
- Dan Brown: Illuminati. Illustrated edition Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 2005, ISBN 978-3-7857-2235-0