{Arts & Letters} Deciphering the Mysteries of Temple Architecture and Art

The fabulous Jessica Peterson spent an evening giving a lecture entitled: "Deciphering the Mysteries of Temple Art & Architecture." Jessica's background in Art History gave her the perfect perspective to teach about symbolism in Christian art and architecture, and more specifically, LDS temple architecture.  Those who attended the class were not disappointed with Jessica's breadth of knowledge!

The woman of the hour

A few of the books Jessica used in her research

Jessica shared the background behind some of the most common and some of the lesser known "gems" of LDS Temple/Christian art and architecture.  

For example, did you know?

• The number 1 in Christian art is symbolic of God the Father and eternity. A circle is also symbolic of the same - look for the use of circles in the interior and exterior of the temple.
• The color green is symbolic of new life and is often found in temple decor - usually carpeting.
• The niches on the front of the Salt Lake Temple (where brides typically stand for pictures) used to hold bronze statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith as the literal "guardians" of the temple.  The statues were removed in 1911 and moved to other areas on Temple Square.
• The first temple to have an Angel Moroni on top was the original Nauvoo Temple.  The angel was horizontal and above it were the marks of the compass and the square.
• The east towers of the Salt Lake Temple are 6 feet higher than the west and represent the Melchizedek Priesthood, while the west towers are symbolic of the Aaronic Priesthood.
• The moonstones around the base of the Salt Lake Temple reflect the phases of the moon over the entire year.  The moonstones on the center east tower reflect the moon during the month of April, while directly across on the center west tower the moonstones reflect the moon six months away in October.   April is an important month in LDS culture because of the reorganization of the church and it is commonly thought that Jesus was born on April 6th.  John the Baptist, His cousin, was born approximately six months before Christ which would mean his birth occurred in the month of October.  Connect those dots.  :)

A Replica of Early Christian Art

A few members of the Arts & Letters Committee who helped sponsor the event!

Thank you Jessica and the Arts & Letters Committee for the fabulous evening!

For those who would like a copy of Jessica's notes, we are working on a way to distribute all instructor class notes more effectively - so stay tuned.   :)