Dan Brown's 2003 bestselling mystery thriller novel The Da Vinci Code popularized a number of erroneous ideas about Mary Magdalene, including that she was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, that she was Jesus's wife, that she was pregnant at the crucifixion, and that she gave birth to Jesus's child, who became the founder of a bloodline which survives to this very day. There is no historical evidence (from the canonical or apocryphal gospels, other early Christian writings, or any other ancient sources) to support these statements. The Da Vinci Code also purports that the figure of the "beloved disciple" to Jesus's right in Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper is Mary Magdalene, disguised as one of the male disciples; art historians maintain that the figure is, in reality, the apostle John, who only appears feminine due to Leonardo's characteristic fascination with blurring the lines between the sexes, a quality which is found in his other paintings, such as Saint John the Baptist (painted 1513 – 1516). Furthermore, according to Ross King, an expert on Italian art, Mary Magdalene's appearance at the last supper would not have been controversial and Leonardo would have had no motive to disguise her as one of the other disciples, since she was widely venerated in her role as the "apostle to the apostles" and patron of the Dominican Order, for whom The Last Supper was painted. There would have even been precedent for it, since the earlier Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico had included her in his painting of the Last Supper. Numerous works were written in response to the historical inaccuracies in The Da Vinci Code, but the novel still exerted massive influence on how members of the general public viewed Mary Magdalene.
dan brown's 2003 bestselling mystery thriller novel the da vinci code popularized a number of erroneous ideas about mary magdalene including that she was a member of the tribe of benjamin that she was jesus's wife that she was pregnant at the crucifixion and that she gave birth to jesus's child who became the founder of a bloodline which survives to this very day there is no historical evidence (from the canonical or apocryphal gospels other early christian writings or any other ancient sources) to support these statements the da vinci code also purports that the figure of the "beloved disciple" to jesus's right in leonardo da vinci's last supper is mary magdalene disguised as one of the male disciples; art historians maintain that the figure is in reality the apostle john who only appears feminine due to leonardo's characteristic fascination with blurring the lines between the sexes a quality which is found in his other paintings such as saint john the baptist (painted 1513 – 1516) furthermore according to ross king an expert on italian art mary magdalene's appearance at the last supper would not have been controversial and leonardo would have had no motive to disguise her as one of the other disciples since she was widely venerated in her role as the "apostle to the apostles" and patron of the dominican order for whom the last supper was painted there would have even been precedent for it since the earlier italian renaissance painter fra angelico had included her in his painting of the last supper numerous works were written in response to the historical inaccuracies in the da vinci code but the novel still exerted massive influence on how members of the general public viewed mary magdalene