With the appearance of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code it can safely be said the Renaissance man is alive and well; not only is there a murder to be solved and an action-packed plot that wraps up in about 48 hours, there are mini-essays on symbology, cryptography, art history, secret sects, Catholicism, architecture, feminine divinity and, yes, even the Holy Grail, to round out your education as you track down the murderer. Quite apart from the satisfaction of solving the crime is the curiosity aroused by all those tantalizing tidbits of historical knowledge gathered along the way. It's enough to make you want to pick up a crossword puzzle or two.

So - for those curious ones who have read the book, delve into these resources for further enlightenment; for those curious ones who are waiting their turn, feel free to peruse without fear of revelation. But consider yourself warned - curiosity didn't do the cat any good, so don't be surprised if you're even more interested after flipping through these resources!

Of course, the cat didn't have a library card to help out.

Check out the Louvre's website, indulge in The Louvre video tour by Charles Boyer, or feast your eyes on these picture-heavy tomes: Louvre: Portrait of a Museum, by Nicholas d'Archimbaud Treasures of the Louvre by Michel Laclotte Feeling adventurous?  Try figuring out the International Association for Cryptologic Research website.  Or, if you tend towards more straightforward explanations, try one of these: Code Breaking: A History and Exploration by Rudolf Kippenhahn The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy by Simon Singh Looking for the other side of the story?  Visit the Opus Dei website.  If it's a third opinion you're depending on for clarity, try Their Kingdom Come: Inside the Secret World of Opus Dei by Robert Hutchison. Curious about the man himself?  Why not visit the Boston Museum of Science exhibit on the man.  Or if you prefer a book, Leonardo da Vinci by Sherwin B. Nuland is your best bet.  Curious about the artwork?  Try any of these:  Leonardo da Vinci: A Singular Vision by Martin Clayton Leonardo: The Last Supper by Ludwig Heinrich Heydenreich Becoming Mona Lisa: the Making of a Global Icon by Don Sassoon Looking for a clear idea of what the Holy Grail really is?  Check out this website.  Then, for a brand-new opinion on the subject, have a look at The Labyrinth of the Grail by William F. Mann Want a first-hand account of the Templars?  Check out their website.  We've got it in print, too: The Templars by Piers Paul Read The Knights Templars: God's Warriors, the Devil's Bankers by Frank Sanello What's Paris without pictures?  Check out their tourism site, and have a look at the Eiffel Tower, then tour the pages of some of these books: Museums and Galleries of Paris by Insight Guides, Paris by Stephen Fallon, Changing Paris: A Tour Along the Seine by Philip Trager.

Codex by Lev Grossman On a two-week vacation before he heads for a new post in London, 25-year-old golden boy investment banker Edward Wozny volunteers his services to the Wents, the duchess and duke of Bowmry, two of the firm's biggest clients. Since he assumes they require his financial expertise, he is exasperated-and then intrigued-to discover they wish him to catalogue a collection of ancient books in the attic of their New York apartment. A special request adds extra urgency to the assignment: he is asked to find a possibly mythical codex by 14th-century monk Gervase of Langford, A Viage to the Contree of the Cimmerians. The Forger by Paul Watkins At the turn of World War II, David Halifax is a young American painter who receives a scholarship to come to Paris and work under the tutelage of the mysterious and brilliant Russian painter, Alexander Pankratov. Beneath Paris' blanket of fear and eerie calm, David Halifax realizes the true purpose of his visit: Pankratov is to train him in duplicating the masterworks of the Paris museums, and with the aid of a wily art dealer, barter the fakes to Hilter's legion of art dealers. What develops is a cat and mouse game through Paris' silent streets, in the tunnels beneath its museums, and eventually into the scorched countryside of Normandy. The Raphael Affair by Iain Pears Thrills and excitement enter this first novel when a British art dealer discovers a Raphael portrait. After an astounding auction, the painting finds its way to a national museum in Rome, where its acquisition solidifies the director's reputation. Clever research, museum politics, and foreign setting add to the story's interest, especially for those who enjoy art and art history. Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco The narrator, Casaubon, an expert on the medieval Knights Templars, and two editors working in a branch of a vanity press publishing house in Milan, are told about a purported coded message revealing a secret plan set in motion by the Knights Templars centuries ago when the society was forced underground. As a lark, the three decide to invent a history of the occult tying a variety of phenomena to the mysterious machinations of the Order. Feeding their inspirations into a computer, they become obsessed with their story, as do the mysterious and dangerous "They".   The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte When a young art expert discovers a murder hidden in a valuable fifteenth-century Flemish painting, she must overcome some unscrupulous twentieth-century characters to uncover the identity of the killer. The Music Lesson by Katharine Weber New York art historian Patricia Dolan is so swept away by the distant Irish cousin, Michael O'Driscoll, who seeks her out for her expertise but quickly becomes her lover, that in no time she is living in a remote cottage on the west coast of Ireland and is part of an IRA-inspired plot to kidnap a Vermeer painting (titled The Music Lesson) from the British royal collection and hold it for ransom.   Posted 3/13/2004