The Da Vinci Code has created a media sensation, if only because it is the bestselling book ever - over fifty million copies sold, and counting. In this four-part series, we tackle the manner in which Dan Brown opted to play with the themes and characters he incorporated into his story.

• Part 1. DaDa Da Vinci
  In part 1, we tackle the "genius" Leonardo, who gave his name to the book, but who mainly is absent from the pages of the book. Was he the genius we believe he was? Was he grandmaster of a secret society? Or was he instead a lone painter?
  
• Part 2. The Jesus Dimension
  In the second part, we look at the historical v. the mythical Jesus, as well as the role that Mary Magdalene and John the Baptist have played in the early Christian community, two characters many of Brown's source have played with.
  
• Part 3. The Work of Sion
  In the third part, we add the stand-off between the two main forces at work in the novel: Opus Dei and The Priory of Sion... two players who only ever crossed swords within the pages of this novel.
  
• Part 4. Upset & mayhem
  Finally, we look at all the controversy that The Da Vinci Code phenomenon created, from becoming a mere publishing success, to a sign of our times.

Long before The Da Vinci Code, another book used the same ingredients of Knights Templar, secret societies and an alternative history. Sometimes, the prototype is far superior to the actual product. And this may apply to the prototype of Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”: Umberto Eco’s “Foucault’s Pendulum”.

More than a century before, Ernest Renan's La Vie de Jesus was able to create such a sensation, which opened up the floodgates for those willing to speculate about the "historical Jesus" - of which The Da Vinci Code is just one example.

But apart from books, there was also a film, "Revelation", which is virtually an identical twin to Brown's The Da Vinci Code, and is, if anything, set on a larger canvas. The film revolves around people that discover they are the descendents of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, who are pursued by evil powers resident within the Vatican, intent on bringing about the Apocalypse.