Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 22
Overview
Silas locates the Rose Line inside Saint-Sulpice and believes it marks the hidden position of the Priory keystone, turning the church from a place of worship into a site of secret pursuit. The Teacher's explanation links the clue to Paris's ancient meridian and the phrase “beneath the Sign of the Rose.”
At the same time, Bishop Aringarosa arrives in Rome confident that the Paris operation will secure an object of immense religious and political power. The chapter raises the stakes by showing that Silas's search is tied to a larger plan involving the future authority of the Church.
Summary
At Saint-Sulpice, Silas kneels in the first pew and studies the sanctuary while pretending to pray. He focuses not on the altar but on the brass strip set into the granite floor: the Rose Line, a marked gnomon that cuts diagonally across the church and continues up a thirty-three-foot Egyptian obelisk.
Silas recalls telling the Teacher that the Priory keystone was hidden inside Saint-Sulpice near a brass line. The Teacher identifies the line as the Rose Line and explains its historical and symbolic importance: a north-south meridian, a navigational rose, and a remnant of Paris's former role as the world's prime meridian before Greenwich replaced it.
The Teacher connects this discovery to the legend that the Priory keystone lies “beneath the Sign of the Rose.” Believing this confirms the location provided by Silas's victims, Silas listens for signs of anyone nearby, briefly suspects movement in the choir balcony, then concludes he is alone.
Silas rises, genuflects three times, and follows the brass line north toward the obelisk. Meanwhile, Bishop Aringarosa lands in Rome after sleeping on the plane. He reflects that, after months of anxiety over the future of the Faith, events in Paris may soon give him possession of something powerful enough to make him the most influential man in Christendom.
Who Appears
- SilasOpus Dei monk searching Saint-Sulpice for the Priory keystone along the Rose Line.
- The TeacherSilas's unseen handler who explains the Rose Line and confirms its symbolic importance.
- Bishop AringarosaChurch leader arriving in Rome, hopeful the Paris operation will grant him great power.