Joseph Smith Preaching to the Indians by William Armitage

"Joseph Smith Preaching to the Indians" (oil on canvas, circa 1890 by William Armitage (1917-1890)): Several times in Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith met with local Indians. This painting probably depicts the August 12, 1841, visit of more than one hundred chiefs and braves of the Sac and Fox Indians and their families. During a meeting in the grove below the
temple, the Prophet explained the Book of Mormon. He told them of the special religious commitment that Latter-day Saints have to Native Americans. William Armitage, an English convert in 1853, immigrated to Utah in 1881. His highly stylized painting reflects formal academic training. He depicts Indians as idealized classical figures rather than real Native Americans. His 'noble savages' reflect an artistic and literary tradition popular for a century. Armitage had probably never visited Nauvoo. He includes Utah mountains as a backdrop as another idealized element to 'ennoble' the event. Joseph Smith's pose is borrowed from other paintings of him preaching. The left hand holds a copy of the Book of Mormon. The bearded man behind the Prophet is unidentified. This painting was commissioned for the Salt Lake Temple. It hung there, along with Armitage's painting of Jesus visiting the Nephites, for over fifty years. More recently, it was shown at the LDS Visitor's Center in Independence, Missouri."