Читаем Angels & Demons полностью

"I misunderstood the clue. It’s not Raphael’s burial site we’re looking for, it’s a tomb Raphael designed for someone else. I can’t believe I missed it. Half of the sculpting done in Renaissance and Baroque Rome was for the funeraries." Langdon smiled with the revelation. "Raphael must have designed hundreds of tombs!"

Vittoria did not look happy. "Hundreds?"

Langdon’s smile faded. "Oh."

"Any of them earthly, professor?"

Langdon felt suddenly inadequate. He knew embarrassingly little about Raphael’s work. Michelangelo he could have helped with, but Raphael’s work had never captivated him. Langdon could only name a couple of Raphael’s more famous tombs, but he wasn’t sure what they looked like.

Apparently sensing Langdon’s stymie, Vittoria turned to the docent, who was now inching away. She grabbed his arm and reeled him in. "I need a tomb. Designed by Raphael. A tomb that could be considered earthly."

The docent now looked distressed. "A tomb of Raphael’s? I don’t know. He designed so many. And you probably would mean a chapel by Raphael, not a tomb. Architects always designed the chapels in conjunction with the tomb."

Langdon realized the man was right.

"Are any of Raphael’s tombs or chapels considered earthly?"

The man shrugged. "I’m sorry. I don’t know what you mean. Earthly really doesn’t describe anything I know of. I should be going."

Vittoria held his arm and read from the top line of the folio. "From Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Not a thing."

Langdon looked up suddenly. He had momentarily forgotten the second part of the line. Demon’s hole?"Yes!" he said to the docent. "That’s it! Do any of Raphael’s chapels have an oculus in them?"

The docent shook his head. "To my knowledge the Pantheon is unique." He paused. "But…"

"But what!" Vittoria and Langdon said in unison.

Now the docent cocked his head, stepping toward them again. "A demon’s hole?" He muttered to himself and picked at his teeth. "Demon’s hole… that is… buco diаvolo?"

Vittoria nodded. "Literally, yes."

The docent smiled faintly. "Now there’s a term I have not heard in a while. If I’m not mistaken, a buco diаvolo refers to an undercroft."

"An undercroft?" Langdon asked. "As in a crypt?"

"Yes, but a specific kind of crypt. I believe a demon’s hole is an ancient term for a massive burial cavity located in a chapel… underneath another tomb."

"An ossuary annex?" Langdon demanded, immediately recognizing what the man was describing.

The docent looked impressed. "Yes! That is the term I was looking for!"

Langdon considered it. Ossuary annexes were a cheap ecclesiastic fix to an awkward dilemma. When churches honored their most distinguished members with ornate tombs inside the sanctuary, surviving family members often demanded the family be buried together… thus ensuring they too would have a coveted burial spot inside the church. However, if the church did not have space or funds to create tombs for an entire family, they sometimes dug an ossuary annex—a hole in the floor near the tomb where they buried the less worthy family members. The hole was then covered with the Renaissance equivalent of a manhole cover. Although convenient, the ossuary annex went out of style quickly because of the stench that often wafted up into the cathedral. Demon’s hole, Langdon thought. He had never heard the term. It seemed eerily fitting.

Langdon’s heart was now pounding fiercely. From Santi’s earthly tomb with demon’s hole. There seemed to be only one question left to ask. "Did Raphael design any tombs that had one of these demon’s holes?"

The docent scratched his head. "Actually. I’m sorry… I can only think of one."

Only one? Langdon could not have dreamed of a better response.

"Where!" Vittoria almost shouted.

The docent eyed them strangely. "It’s called the Chigi Chapel. Tomb of Agostino Chigi and his brother, wealthy patrons of the arts and sciences."

"Sciences?" Langdon said, exchanging looks with Vittoria.

"Where?" Vittoria asked again.

The docent ignored the question, seeming enthusiastic again to be of service. "As for whether or not the tomb is earthly, I don’t know, but certainly it is… shall we say differénte."

"Different?" Langdon said. "How?"

"Incoherent with the architecture. Raphael was only the architect. Some other sculptor did the interior adornments. I can’t remember who."

Langdon was now all ears. The anonymous Illuminati master, perhaps?

"Whoever did the interior monuments lacked taste," the docent said. "Dio mio! Atrocitаs! Who would want to be buried beneath pirámides?"

Langdon could scarcely believe his ears. "Pyramids? The chapel contains pyramids?"

"I know," the docent scoffed. "Terrible, isn’t it?"

Vittoria grabbed the docent’s arm. "Signore, where is this Chigi Chapel?"