I just recently saw "The Adoration of the Magi" in the Uffizi in Florence, so this book really resonates for me. It makes me want to go back and take a fresh look at Botticelli's art, at the Mona Lisa, medieval architecture, and the Bible. I rarely put much credence in elaborately constructed conspiracies, but there is much to fascinate in this novel. The only people I've ever known who were Masons, Rosicrucians, members of various Catholic subcultures, and so forth always struck me as supremely silly people with too much time on their hands. Maybe I ought to take a closer look at them too!