The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Temple World Rooms - The Salt Lake Temple

I have written a lot about murals in the past, but as I was attending the Salt Lake Temple last weekend it occurred to me that I could write more in detail about some.  So I am starting a set of posts on World Rooms in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Temples.

Salt Lake Temple World Room

World Rooms are very interesting because they have to both show the fallen state of this world while at the same time indicating the progression of man through the temple and through mortality.  The tension between these two ideas, falling and progression, makes for interesting art and architecture.  In the Salt Lake Temple, this is accomplished in several ways.

As you enter the World Room you are now one floor higher than the Garden Room, having ascended most of the Grand Staircase.  There is also now natural light from windows on the left side of the room.  The ceiling is also higher than it was in the Garden Room and the chandeliers are larger and more ornate.  Moldings are more intricate and doors are taller.  All of these elements signify progression.  But this room also is used to represent a fallen world.  This is mainly done through the fine mural adorning its walls.

Salt Lake Temple World Room

The main theme of this mural is competition and decay.  It must have been interesting for the artist to brainstorm ways to repeat these themes over and over again.  We can start with the geological components.  At the front of the room there is a large cliff that was been eroded by a river.  A desert occurs on the right wall towards the back.  A storm rages in the back right corner.  A rocky mountain covers the rear wall.  On the left wall there is a swamp with its filthy water.  Also on this wall, there is a tropical scene complete with waterfalls cutting through the landscape.  Distant mountains are also seen throughout the painting showing rugged terrain in contrast to the Garden Rooms gentle scene.

Salt Lake Temple World Room

The plants further reinforce the mural's themes.  At the cliff in the front of the room plants have been completely removed by the erosive forces of a river.  Some that remain on the bottom are bent awkwardly either by wind or want of light.  On the right wall there are two trees competing for the same space, choking each other out.    On the left wall parasitic vines are climbing on tress in the swamp.  In the front left corner there is a tree that has some healthy branches, some diseased and dying branches, and some dead branches.  In the right back corner there is a completely dead tree and another tree with some major branches missing.  There is also desert with scraggly plants.  Barren cliffs are on one wall.  There is also a tropical forest on the left wall, which would be nice if it weren't for the creatures living in it.

Speaking of creatures, the mural gets more interesting when you consider the animals depicted in it.  At the front we see lions fighting with each other in contrast to the lamb and lion lying down together in the Garden Room.  In fact, whereas in the Garden Room the animals all seemed to be peacefully grazing, in this room they are running, hiding, fighting, eating others, being eaten, starving, competing, etc.  There are two different birds in the partially dying tree that don't seem to like each other at the front.  On the right wall, some sort of cat (bobcat? lynx?) is waiting in the trees, not sure whether to pounch on two bears, or flee from them.  At the rear we see an elk, with large antlers both for defense and for quarreling with other elk.  In the left rear corner there is a hawk flying back to its nest, which would be nice if it wasn't holding a small animal (rabbit?) in its talons.  On the left wall there is some large jungle cat rather enthusiastically eating its prey.  These are just the animals I noticed in the mural last week.  They remind us that competition, violence, etc. are part of this fallen world.  Through the teachings of the temple, we learn how to follow God's laws and overcome all these fallen aspects of life.

The mural shows the decay of this fallen world, but the mural also shows progression in several ways.  The vistas are grander than in the Garden Room.  The colors used are also lighter than in the Garden room.  The entire room is larger, so the mural is also larger.  It is also interesting that the World Room doesn't feel dark, despite all the decay and death it is showing, but it does make you feel like you need to do what you need to do and then more on to greater things.

The mural also works with the room to highlight parts of the endowment ceremony.  You might notice how the stream eroded cliff at the front works with a large staircase.  This staircase allows certain characters to enter and exit the room high up, while another enters through the door at floor level.  The two doors are kept vertically apart, highlighting the difference in the characters.  I won't explain more outside the temple, but it should be obvious to the initiated what I am talking about.  The door to the Terrestrial Room is also slightly elevated showing our progression from this fallen world to a better world where we keep God's commandments and the covenants we have made.

Those are my thoughts on the Salt Lake Temple World Room and especially its mural.  Please comment with other things you noticed in it.

As a piece of fun trivia, if you look at the wall between the doors to the Terrestrial Room and the large staircase you can see an inscription by artists that touched up the murals during the depression (thanks to the commenter who pointed this out).

Latter-day Saint Temple Murals - Part 7 - The Rebuilt Nauvoo Temple Murals

In recent years (the last decade or so) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has begun using painted murals in temple endowment rooms.  The rebuilt Nauvoo Temple is an excellent example.  I suspect that gathering the artists for this project and having murals painted in a new temple was a catalyst that got the church to use murals in all new temples again.  I can't confirm it, but a lot of the details required for the Nauvoo Temple have started showing up in other temples including murals.

The original Nauvoo Temple lacked murals.  It was completed (with some parts only roughly done) shortly before the Saints fled Illinois and headed to Utah.  This, and the fact that murals didn't begin being used until the Logan Temple was built in 1884, meant that the temple didn't have murals.  The rebuilt Nauvoo Temple was decorated with grand details that the saints probably would have added given proper time and means.  I think the murals are well done and have some interesting aspects.

The artists intentionally emulated the Hudson River School of painting popular in the mid 1800s so the work would fit in with the historical nature of the temple (see this article).  At the same time, they clearly have created a fusion style as features such as nebulae viewed from the Hubble Space Telescope in the creation room murals would clearly not have been painted in any art in the 1800s.

Below is the creation room mural.  One notable feature is that the landscapes are based on east coast locations with New England shorelines representing the newly formed world.  This starts a pattern that is completed in the world room where the history of the church is played out by referencing notable locals.  Starting in New England, the church eventually made its way to the west.

Below is the garden room mural.  Beautiful depictions of the Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil are found in the front of the room.  I recall that the tree of life was covered in brilliant white fruit.  Notice that there are carved sheaths of wheat in the door frames (unrelated to this post, but symbolic):

Below is the world room mural.  I really like this interpretation of a world room and I would rank it as my second favorite, just below the current Manti Temple world room mural.  Several things are going on in this painting that you may not notice at first, but which add a lot of symbolism and interest to the painting.  First, the seasons exist in this temple and represent time and seasons as a feature of the fallen world.  This is also used to make the room lighter symbolizing progression.  Winter's white snows brighten the front of the room and make the area around the altar, and the way into the terrestrial room, the brightest part of the room.  The artists have also intentionally represented areas from church history in this mural.  It starts with spring in Vermont where Joseph Smith was born and follows church history locations such as New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, and ends with winter in Utah's Wasatch Mountains.  In this way, the room symbolizes the journey through life as we follow the church and the path God lays out for us.

 I read somewhere that the Nauvoo Temple also includes celestial room murals.  This isn't true (I've been there twice and it does not).  It does include a nice painting of the world after the flood, and I think that is what is mistaken as a celestial room mural.  A small painting is not a mural.  But it is a nice addition to the Nauvoo Temple celestial room.

I would love to hear what you think about these murals, so please comment.

Latter-day Saint Temple Murals - Pt 5 - Miscellaneous Murals

This is a continuation of my posts on Latter-day Saint Temple murals.  You can read the earlier posts by clicking on the links below:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Celestial Room Murals

After the LA Temple was completed, the endowment began to be presented on film, eliminating the need for murals in endowment rooms.  Because of this, murals stopped being used in endowment rooms until the 2000s.  Even so, between the 1950s and the early 2000s, a few temple murals were included.  These tended to be in hallways or lobbies.  Here is the list I was able to come up with:

The Washington D.C. Temple

Washington D.C. Temple Mural of the Second Coming of Jesus

The main lobby of this temple has a 30 foot long mural of the second coming of Jesus Christ.  The painting is probably familiar to you if you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It shows Christ coming and welcoming the righteous (living and newly resurrected dead people are portrayed) on his right hand, while the wicked despair and hide on his left hand side.  The Washington D.C. Temple is also painted into the mural.

The Jordan River Utah Temple
In the main lobby of the Jordan River Temple there is a mural of the Garden of Eden based on the LA Temple garden room mural.  You can see the LA Temple garden room mural in part 4 of my temple murals posts.


The Mexico City Mexico Temple

Mexico City Temple Lobby with Mural of Jesus Christ in 3 Nephi 11

This temple has a print of a famous painting of Jesus Christ coming to teach the Nephites in the Americas after his resurrection as recorded in 3 Nephi 11 in The Book of Mormon.  The print is in the main lobby.

The Ogden Utah Temple
This temple had a mural of Jesus Christ and some apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration.  I'm not sure if it was a print or an original, but it was large and striking in the main lobby.  I hope it is kept in the temple after the current remodel is completed.  This mural was also effective because the Mount of Transfiguration has been linked to the temple and multiple people (prophets and apostles) have said that this is likely where Peter, James, and John received their endowments.

Salt Lake Temple Annex
The new (added in 1960s) Salt Lake Temple Annex includes a chapel with murals on both the front and rear of the room.

The Bountiful Utah Temple

Bountiful Utah Temple Chapel

The chapel in this temple includes a print of part of a painting of Jesus Christ's second coming.  This is technically a mural as the room is planned around the piece and the piece is permanently applied to the wall.







The Vernal Utah Temple

Vernal Utah Temple Celestial Room

The same painting of Jesus Christ's Second Coming is used as a mural in the Vernal Utah Temple Celestial Room.










Baptistery Murals
There are many temple that have baptistery murals, but I am going to cover those not already covered in a separate post.

There is my list of miscellaneous Latter-day Saint Temple Murals from 1960 to 2000.  Surely I have missed some.  Please comment and let us know what you think, tell us of other murals I didn't know about, and discuss murals you would like to see.  While I am thrilled that temples have begun using endowment room murals again, I also like seeing these murals in various places in the temple.  I love how each temple is different, with random murals adding interesting variety.  Please Comment. 

Latter-day Saint Temple Murals - Pt 4 - The Idaho Falls and LA Temple Murals

This is a continuation of my discussion on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Temple Murals.  You can find the other parts by clicking on the respective links:

Part 1:  The Beginnings of Temple Murals
Part 2: The Manti and Salt Lake Temple Murals
Part 3: The Spireless Temple Murals
Celestial Room Murals

So far I have discussed murals through the Mesa Arizona Temple.  Today I will discuss the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple and the Los Angeles California Temple and their murals.  These two temples used murals to a great degree.  Both baptisteries included murals.  In addition, both celestial rooms have murals (which I discussed in this post) which are very uncommon.  The only other temples with celestial room murals (to my knowledge) are the Hamilton New Zealand Temple (Brett posted on this blog and told me about that one) and the Logan Temple sort of has celestial room murals, but not really.  The original Logan Temple celestial room had murals added in 1929.  You can read more here.

The Idaho Falls Idaho Temple Murals

Idaho Falls Temple Baptistery

As I stated above, the murals start in the baptistery.  In the 2 pictures I am showing, you can see that one mural is of the baptism of Jesus Christ.  I'm not sure what the other mural is of, or if there are 4 murals total in the room, or just the 2 pictured.  I assume the other mural(s) are of baptisms in the scriptures.

Idaho Falls Temple Baptistery

Idaho Falls Temple Creation Room

The creation room mural is fairly simple and is done in a 1940s style.  It is also fairly dark.  I mention this because as one progresses through the endowment, the rooms get lighter.

Idaho Falls Temple Garden Room

The two trees at the front of the garden room represent the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil found in the Garden of Eden.  The outlines and some details of these two trees are carved into the wall, which is really cool.

Idaho Falls Temple Garden Room Detail

The garden room has many different deep colors.  I also like the abundance of plants and animals in this mural.  They are jammed into every space.

Idaho Falls Temple World Room

 The world room has murals with people in them.  Here you see a husband and wife working together plowing a field as a reminder that we are to work in this fallen world.  On another wall pioneers in covered wagons are coming through a canyon.  All along the wall filled with windows are seagulls coming to save the pioneers from crickets that were devastating their crops.  The message of the room is that the world is fallen (shown through the need for work, the sagebrush and not lush landscape), the joy and success of that work (husband and wife happily getting along, pioneers successfully emigrating), the struggles in life (work, being forced to emigrate, the trial of the crickets) and the grace from God (the seagulls miraculously coming to save the pioneers by eating the crickets).  Progression is shown as this room is lighter than the garden room (partly due to light sagebrush and white seagulls).  It is fitting that the brightest part of the painting - the seagulls (which cover a wall of bright windows) represent the help from God.  This is a great message for a world room to convey.

Idaho Falls Temple Celestial Room

The Celestial Room has an extremely rare celestial room mural.  The mural shows a lot of people in white socializing with one another.  Some carry flowers, books, etc.  The landscape is full of lush grass as a sort of Elysian Fields image of heaven.  Vibrant colors have returned (remember in the world room the colors were faded, not the deep colors of the garden room).  Families are together.  I haven't seen a picture of it, but I have done a session in this temple so I'll tell you about the rest of the mural.  Along one wall there is John the Revelator writing as an angel is talking to him.  In vision he is seeing Zion, the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven as recorded in the Book of Revelation.  It really is a wonderful way to do a celestial room.  Above the mural the ceiling soars into the spire and windows let in a lot of light.

 

The Los Angeles California Temple Murals

I found a Time Magazine article on the LA Temple.  It can be found here.  Here is an excerpt:

But most interesting is the second floor, containing the Five Rooms—"a series of classrooms explaining the purpose of life, where we come from, what we are doing, where we are going."
No. 1 is the Creation Room—ovalshaped, with murals of the sun and moon. No. 2 is the Garden of Eden, "where," reads a sign, "Adam and Eve made their great decision." Next is the World Room, with murals inspired by Death Valley, which "represents the lone and dreary world, the testing ground." No. 4 is the Terrestrial Room, "fourth stage on the path to celestial glory, the step before entering the Celestial Kingdom." One of its walls opens onto the fifth room decorated as a luxurious sitting room, with well-upholstered chairs and settees, delicate murals and elaborate chandeliers.
This represents the Celestial Kingdom itself, "where exalted man may dwell in the presence of God."

The Los Angeles Temple baptistery has a mural of the baptism of Jesus.

LA Temple Baptistery

The endowment rooms are huge!  The creation room appears to be in vibrant colors starting with darkness and showing a spectacular sun.

LA Temple Creation Room

The garden room is lush with vibrant colors.  It appears brighter and lighter than the previous room.  There is a mural in the lobby of the Jordan River Utah Temple that is based on the LA Temple garden room.  That mural shows a lamb and lion laying down together.

LA Temple Garden Room

The world room depicts Adam and Eve after leaving the Garden of Eden.  I think this is the last temple endowment room mural to include people (Manti and Idaho Falls also show people).  The room is even brighter and lighter than the previous rooms with faded colors.

 LA Temple World Room

I also notice that the world room landscape is exaggerated and grand.  It is something you might find in an epic movie, which is fitting as the temple is near Hollywood.  I am told these rooms are huge, but I have never actually attended this particular temple.  If you have, please comment with your insights.

LA Temple World Room

There are no murals in the terrestrial room (that I know of) but as you can see, the room is huge.

LA Temple Terrestrial Room

The celestial room also contains murals.  The image is faded, but they appear to show a landscape of some sort.

LA Temple Celestial Room

There has been some debate on this blog, but I'm almost certain now that this next photo is of the Hamilton New Zealand Celestial room that appears to have received a celestial room mural at some point.

Hamilton New Zealand Celestial Room

The Idaho Falls and LA Temples were the last temples with live presentation of the endowment (the Bern Switzerland Temple was dedicated between the two temples and was the first temple to use a video to present the endowment).  As temples started using film for the endowment, the need for different rooms to present the endowment, and the accompanying murals in those rooms, was lost.  Luckily the last temples with murals went all out.  They had baptistery and celestial room murals.  They had people in the world room murals.  The murals were partly sculpted in Idaho Falls.  The murals showed progression and taught lessons.  As the era of temple murals ended, some of the best murals were produced.  It was between the dedications of the Idaho Falls and LA Temples that the Manti Temple garden and world room murals were painted.  In my opinion, this is when the most creativity went into temple paintings.  Perhaps God inspired the artists more than usual because he knew we wouldn't have new murals until the last few years (mid 2000s) when they became standard again.

Latter-day Saint Temple Murals - Pt 3 - The Spireless Temple Murals

This is a continuation of my posts on Latter-day Saint Temple Murals.  Part 1 can be found here and part 2 can be found here.
 
It took 20 years after the Salt Lake Temple was completed for another temple to start construction.  Ten years after that, the Cardston Alberta Canada Temple was finally completed.  In the meantime the Laie Hawaii Temple had been started and completed.  Four years later, the Mesa Arizona Temple was completed.  These three temples share a common floor plan and a lack of a spire or tower.  They are beautiful temples.  They also had murals which I will discuss briefly.  I have only been in the Mesa Arizona Temple so my insights on the other temple murals will be less detailed.  Please write in the comments and tell us about their murals if you know more.


The Laie Hawaii Temple has unique murals with a different style than those found in pioneer temples.  (Addition to the original post - the baptistery also includes murals) Here are pictures of the creation, garden, and world room murals.  I particularly like how the creation room mural has different panels for each day of creation instead of the one continuous mural painting seen in most temples. I also like how the wood brings warmth into the rooms.  LeConte Stewart painted the murals according to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints's news release after the latest remodel.

Laie Hawaii Temple Baptistery Murals

Laie Hawaii Temple Baptistery Murals

Laie Hawaii Temple Creation Room Mural

Laie Hawaii Temple Garden Room Mural

Laie Hawaii Temple World Room Mural

The Cardston Alberta Canada Temple was the next completed.  It has intricate woodwork throughout the temple that can be seen alongside the murals.  Also, murals are found in the baptistery, chapel, and terrestrial rooms and not just the creation, garden and world rooms.  I think this is the only temple with terrestrial room murals, although I could be wrong.  An ensign article found here talks about the Cardston Temple and gives this insight into the murals:

Latter-day Saint artists spanning three generations worked side by side on the murals of the temple. LeConte Stewart, in his late twenties, supervised the decorative work and painted the murals in the creation room. These murals were painted with small daubs of color, much like the pointillist style of some of the French impressionists. In the next room was Lee Greene Richards, a man in his early forties, who had been one of LeConte Stewart’s teachers. His garden room murals recalled some elements of art nouveau, including a sinuously curved tree and a graceful peacock. A. B. Wright, one of Richards’s contemporaries, was also at work on smaller paintings in the chapel and terrestrial rooms. Meanwhile, Edwin Evans, a well-established artist in his sixties, who had taught both Richards and Wright, painted scenes of the Alberta countryside in the world room.

I hope you noticed that pointillism and art nouveau were mentioned in regards to the creation room and garden room murals respectively.  The artistic liberties granted to the mural artists were perhaps a lot greater than those given artists today.  Today we stress strict realism in temple murals; in the past we allowed other artistic styles to have some expression.  Prints of the garden room murals are now on the walls of the Kyiv Ukraine Temple as well.  I like how in the Carston Temple garden room the front of the room has two trees painted on half cylindrical portions of the walls.  This seems to make them more tree like, in my opinion. Here are pictures of the various rooms with murals.  If any of you have been to the Cardston Temple and can give more details on what is in the murals, etc. then please comment.  I notice from the pictures that the murals take up a larger portion of each wall than the previous room's murals (with the possible exception of the terrestrial room) which adds to symbolic progression in the temple.

Cardston Alberta Canada Temple Font

Mural of Abraham Offering Sacrifice in Cardston Temple Baptistery

Cardston Temple Baptism of Christ Mural Detail

Cardston Alberta Canada Temple Chapel

Cardston Alberta Canada Temple Creation Room

Cardston Alberta Canada Temple Garden Room

Cardston Alberta Canada Temple World Room

Cardston Alberta Canada Temple Terrestrial Room

The Mesa Arizona Temple was has been called a Lamanite temple in that many Native Americans and Mexicans have historically attended the temple.  The murals reflect the Lamanite influences.  In the baptistery the murals show baptisms being performed in ancient America as well as the baptism of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.  In the upstairs hallway next to the grand staircase there is a mural of Joseph Smith Jr. preaching to the Lamanites (Native Americans).  The other rooms have typical murals of the creation, Garden of Eden, and world.  The world room presents a barren desert landscape as a symbol of this fallen world.  This is fitting as the Mesa Temple is in a very hot and dry desert.  The Snowflake Arizona Temple uses desert scenes differently and has murals capturing the beauty of the desert landscape instead of showing it strictly as a symptom of a fallen world.

Mesa Temple Baptistery with Mural

Mesa Arizona Temple Baptistery Mural

Mesa Arizona Temple Creation Room Being Painted

Mesa Arizona Temple Garden Room

Mesa Arizona Temple Garden Room

Mesa Arizona Temple World Room

Mesa Arizona Temple Staircase

Mesa Arizona Temple Mural of Joseph Smith Jr. Preaching to the Lamanites

I like that the murals in these three temples are unique.  They display different art styles unlike our current murals which seem to be all natural realism.  Also, I like that murals were worked into different places such as baptisteries, chapels, halls, and terrestrial rooms.  When the endowment was presented using film, the need, and unfortunately the desire, to have murals was lost.  Unfortunately this meant that a lot of good art was not produced for temples until recently when murals have begun to be used again in temples.  There is no reason why a temple using film cannot follow the example of the Laie, Cardston, and Mesa Temples and use murals in the baptistery and in hallways, lobbies, and chapels.  Actually some temples have done this, but that is for another post.  In my next post I plan to talk about the Idaho Falls and Los Angeles Temples and their murals.  They pushed mural progression even further forward with celestial room murals.

Please take the time to comment on these temples and their murals.  I'd love to hear your insights on these murals and how concepts present in these temples could be applied to new temples today.