Free Republic

The CEO of the French construction group Vinci said Tuesday that he would not participate in the building of any wall on the US border with Mexico, called for by President Donald Trump. “I have to take into account the reality of my company, our culture, our way of doing things and our sensitivities, not only those of my American colleagues, but around the world,” Xavier Huillard told BFM Business television. “For these reasons, and this is not at all a value judgment on the United States, we prefer not to touch this wall.” …

A long-lost painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci was confiscated from a bank vault in Switzerland after Italian police said it had been exported illegally and was in danger of being sold for up to £90 million. Swiss police, acting on a request by their Italian counterparts, seized the portrait of Isabella d’Este, a Renaissance noblewoman, from a private bank vault in Lugano on Tuesday. After being lost for centuries, the painting was rediscovered in 2013 in a collection of 400 artworks kept in a Swiss vault. The authorities then were alerted to the existence of the painting, but it...

FORT LAUDERDALE— Police say wealthy retired businessman Ronald Vinci wanted to finally end his long-term relationship with his girlfriend. During a "heated altercation" in the early morning hours of June 28 at Vinci's new multimillion-dollar home, police allege the girlfriend, Catherine Pileggi, unleashed a tremendous fury, fracturing his skull, stabbing him in the chest, slicing his throat and shooting him in the head.

It appears Mona Lisa, who has been captivating people for centuries, just got much more interesting. Art detectives have discovered that one of the world’s most famous paintings contains small letters and numbers put there intentionally by Leonardo Da Vinci: Hidden in the dark paint of her pupils are tiny letters and numbers, placed there by the artist Leonardo da Vinci and revealed only now thanks to high-­magnification techniques. Experts say the barely distinguishable letters and numbers represent something of a real-life Da Vinci code. The revelation could have come straight from the pages of Dan Brown’s best-seller The Da...

ONDON - Richard Leigh, a writer of alternative history who unsuccessfully sued for plagiarism over themes in Dan Brown's blockbuster novel "The Da Vinci Code," has died, his agent said Friday. He was 64. U.S.-born Leigh, who had lived in Britain for three decades, died in London on Nov. 21 of causes related to a heart condition, the Jonathan Clowes Agency said. Leigh was co-author of "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail," a work of speculative nonfiction that claimed Jesus Christ fathered a child with Mary Magdalene and that the bloodline continues to this day. A best-seller on its...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has banned "The Da Vinci Code" following calls from both minority Christians and majority Muslims, an official said on Sunday. The adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel, the story of a Vatican cover-up involving Christ and his supposed offspring, has made hundreds of millions of dollars around the world since it opened last month. But the screening of the film in Pakistan, or possession of it on video cassettes or discs, was prohibited and unlawful, said Jalil Abbas, secretary of the Ministry of Culture. "The film is sacrilegious to all religions, that's why we did this,"...

Cannes, France (AHN) - As "The Da Vinci Code" makes its worldwide film debut, opening the Cannes Film Festival, the critics are giving it the thumbs down. The highly anticipated drama was screened Tuesday night at the 59th Cannes Film Festival for hundreds of journalists from around the world against a backdrop of anger from religious groups. The movie is receiving some praise, but most is highly critical. One reviewer even calls Tom Hanks' performance "wooden." Only co-star Ian McKellen was left without criticism. One scene during the film, meant to be serious, elicited prolonged laughter from the audience. There...

WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAY 19TH? May 19th is the date the Da Vinci Code movie opens. A movie based on a book that wears its heresy and blasphemy as a badge of honor. What can we as Christians do in response to the release of this movie? I'm going to offer you the usual choices -- and a new one. Here are the usual suspects: A) We can ignore the movie. ........ The problem with this option: The box office is a ballot box. The only people whose votes are counted are those who buy tickets. And the ballot...

Leonardo Da Vinci: Son of a Slave? By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Da Vinci Self-Portrait Sep. 26 — Leonardo Da Vinci may have been the son of a Middle Eastern slave, according to the director of an Italian museum located near the Renaissance master's birthplace in Tuscany. Alessandro Vezzosi, director of the Museo Ideale Leonardo Da Vinci, announced last week at the museum that, after over 25 years of research, he has concluded that Da Vinci's father was a minor nobleman or craftsman named Ser Piero Da Vinci, while the artist's mother was a Middle Eastern slave, known by the...