In March 2013 on the tenth anniversary of the publication of The DaVinci Code, free downloads of electronic versions of the novel were offered. Over 500,000 were released. This might not have been just a generous gift. Rather there were several indications that re-reading The DaVinci Code could be useful in sorting out clues on the new Dan Brown Homepage. In the end these turned out to be red herrings, false friends, for although the central character is Robert Langdon, and the new novel mentions Solomon’s Temple, the Crusades, the Vatican from Angels and Demons, and the Apotheosis of Washington in Washington, D.C., only brief mention is made of the displeasure of the Catholic Church caused by The DaVinci Code.Here, however, are the possible tie ins related to the intricate symbols and puzzles on the Dan Brown homepage.

Brown thanks his father a teacher of mathematics for revealing to him the secrets of the Fibonacci sequence. (The dedication in Inferno is FOR MY PARENTS, a departure from previous novels dedicated to his wife, Blythe, the art historian.) That Fibonacci sequence is Jacques Sauniere’s means of involving the Cryptologists, and therefore his granddaughter in the investigation of his death. Once the numbers of his message are unscrambled they reveal the Fibonacci sequence of numbers that is also the password to open the safety deposit box at the Depository Bank of Zurich. (Chapter 44). (Others and I have written of the expense to establish and maintain in cyberspace a fictitious Bank and a home page for access to it.)

When Silas, the Opus Dei assassin arrives at San Sulpice, he extracts a stone tablet that has Job 38:11 inscribed upon it. The same passage is cited at the bottom of the Brown homepage, and when clicking on the face of Silas (who apparently had perished in The DVC) appears or perhaps returns for the new novel.

In the Epilogue Langdon walks along the brass Parisian street markers (Arago medallion) tracing the Roseline from Roslyn to Paris and the Louvre wherein lies the Holy Grail. One such medallion is prominently displayed on Dan Brown’s homepage.

There are several mentions and connections pointing to Florence. 

The Mona Lisa which has been stolen twice in modern times was once recovered in Florence.

Leonardo da Vinci is mentioned in connection with Florence in the mention of his Adoration of the Magi, that has been the subject of intense investigation and some controversy concerning its authorship and perhaps imbedded messages.

The original was at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence but is now being examined elsewhere.

The Florentine artist, Botticelli, is mentioned as a member of the Priory of Sion.

At the end of the final Chapter 105 Robert Langdon says in farewell to Sophie Neveu that he will lecturing in Florence in a month and staying at the Brunelleschi. (Fillippo Brunelleschi is the architect of the dome of the Florence Cathedral as well as of several churches. He combines an interest in art, architecture and mathematics that might appeal to Brown and Langdon).

She replies,” I would love nothing more than to meet you in Florence, Robert.” They kiss.

There are more connections likely to come when Dan Brown’s Inferno appears.