The "Da Vinci" prequel is a thrilling chase from the dank and claustrophobic crypts of St. Peter's Basilica to the heights of Castel Sant'Angelo. There's a hired assassin, a handful of kidnapped cardinals, the Swiss Guard, and the reluctant hero, Robert Langdon - yes, the same New England academic who solves the mystery in "The Da Vinci Code" and played again by Tom Hanks.
To get a jump on the crowds before the film comes out next May, I set off armed with only a guidebook, a map, and the novel to chart my way through the book's narrative, along the so-called Path of Illumination, to sumptuous sculptures by Bernini that act as signposts for a secret sect plotting to blow up Vatican City.
The first stop is the Piazza del Popolo, one of the most scenic squares in Rome. There's an Egyptian obelisk, two seemingly symmetrical churches (an architectural tromp l'oeil), and the Pincio, a breath of green space that tumbles down from the Villa Borghese park above. It's a perfect spot to read up on the clues and symbols that point to the killer's path. I settled in at an outdoor table at Rosati, one of the fashionable cafes and once the hangout of Rome's intellectual left: Italo Calvino, Alberto Moravia, and Pier Paolo Pasolini were regulars.
The church of Santa Maria del Popolo is tucked into the piazza's immense gate. Inside are two Caravaggio paintings, Rome's first stained glass windows, frescoes by Pinturicchio, ghoulish skeletons, and the Chigi Chapel designed by Raphael with two Bernini sculptures. For Brown, it's the setting for some grisly business involving suffocation; for me, it remains an example of how rewarding it is to scout out great artwork tucked away in the corners of this bountiful city.
Langdon gets to his next destination in an Alfa Romeo. I have to navigate Rome's mad traffic as I make my way on foot to St. Peter's Square. Roman Catholics have been coming to this massive piazza for centuries, for papal audiences and to take in the sweep of history surrounded by Bernini's grand rows of curving columns. Like outstretched arms these travertine pillars topped with sculpted saints symbolize the church's embrace of pilgrims. Most people assume this vast square is in Vatican City. It's not. It's part of Rome.
