The Real Da Vinci Code: Hidden Music in "The Last Supper"

Giovanni Maria Pala, Italian musician and computer technician, thinks he has found yet another layer in the complex mystery that is Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper."

Back in 2003, Pala saw news reports hinting that there might be musical notes concealed within the painting, but the researchers never reported further findings. As a musician, Pala was very curious and began investigating the painting himself.

By drawing five lines of the musical staff across the painting, he was able to discover that certain objects, such as loaves of bread, could represent musical notes. Pala's real breakthrough came when he discovered that he must score the music from right to left, in an imitation of Da Vinci's mirror-image writing style.

The final product is described to be slow and Bach-like; Pala says it sounds best on a pipe organ, a common instrument in Da Vinci's time. Da Vinci was himself a musician, making Pala's claims even more plausible. He has written a book on the subject, called La Musica Celata (The Hidden Music).

Pala does not support the claims made in Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code, which postulates that the feminine figure in the painting is Mary Magdalene, who supposedly bore Jesus' children. "...[Da Vinci] wasn't a heretic like some believe," the musician said. "What emerges is a man who believes, a man who really believes in God."