Salt Lake temple questions

[Vort]

Monday morning, I attended the most emotional endowment session I remember ever having done. Not sure why it (or I) was so emotional, but the presence of live actors in the Salt Lake temple probably contributed. I literally almost wept as I came into the Celestial Room. I just really, really enjoyed the experience. I had only been through the Salt Lake temple one other time, for Sister Vort's endowment, 25 years and 2 days earlier, and at the time my mind was a bit preoccupied with other issues.

I also had a few Salt-Lake-temple-specific questions that the Temple Square workers could not answer:

• Is the Garden Room east of the Creation Room? I'm pretty sure it is. I tried to check on the temple model in the south visitors' center, but the Creation Room is not shown; I believe it was scooped out to show other rooms. My guess is that when Adam and Eve are placed "eastward in Eden", you actually get up and walk east. My wife said I'm the only one ever to ask or think that, but I bet I'm not.

• The Terrestrial Room (which is stunning, I mean just extremely impressive) features a heroic-sized painting of Christ in the clouds with a desertscape beneath. Very famous LDS painting by Harry Anderson:

  

  Is that the original hanging in the Salt Lake temple Terrestrial Room, or just a very large reproduction?

• The Celestial Room was so ornate that it reminded me very strongly of a European cathedral from the Renaissance era. The side of the Celestial Room nearest the veil includes small statues, almost frescoes, up high: Two cherubs and an adult figure. I took the adult figure for a blond, beardless Christ, not unlike Michelangelo's beardless Christ figure on the wall of the Sistine Chapel:

  https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR98260Q0UWlQKfbS4C7xip5qzBLN6lHviz70e2zWfvY---CJMv

  In fact, to my mind the Celestial Room generally and this statue display specifically had a light but distinct Catholic feel -- though I don't think the older Temple Square missionary sister I made this observation to was thrilled by my observation. She had no real answer to my question. So does anyone know if the larger statue in the Celestial Room represents Christ or some other specific individual?

And by the way, just because I can tell you're dying to know: The Endowment House stood in the extreme northwest corner of Temple Square, where the west wing of the north visitors' center now stands. But don't ask the Temple Square workers where the Endowment House was; they will tell you, "It was the Lion House", which is incorrect.

Edited May 7, 2013 by Vort

[applepansy]

I've never thought of those questions. I'm interested in the answers. We often attend the SL Temple.

I can't answer the Garden room questions because I get so turned around in the temple I don't know if I'm going North or South. :)

[bytebear]

I found a floor plan on an anti-Mormon website which I will not post, but it looks like the creation room is in the north East corner, the Garden room is in the South east Corner. The World room is on the next floor, so I suppose you go East to get to the stairs/elevator. But no, the World room is not East of the Garden.

I do love the symbolism of each room elevated above the next symbolizing our progression. This is also true (albeit more subtle) of all temples.

[Daybreak79]

The Garden Room is South of the Creation Room. (I double checked my memory with a google search of "salt lake temple blueprints" to verify.)

Don't know about the painting or the statue, but I do know there are many members who don't like it when I say certain paintings that we use have a "catholic feel".

I'm somewhat surprised that the missionary didn't know about the proper location of the old Endowment House - I thought that was pretty common knowledge.

Edited May 7, 2013 by Daybreak79

[bytebear]

I also found this interesting article. Not quite on topic but interesting nonetheless.

https://byustudies.byu.edu/showTitle.aspx?title=6385

Also, you might want to browse here:

https://byustudies.byu.edu/quickFind.aspx?type=c&value=67

[Dravin]

Don't know about the painting or the statue, but I do know there are many members who don't like it when I say certain paintings that we use have a "catholic feel".

I think, and I'm not commenting on the appropriateness of such, that for some members Catholic => Apostate. They therefore take saying something has a Catholic feel as akin to saying the artwork feels false or apostate rather than a statement of shared artistic elements.

Edited May 7, 2013 by Dravin

[Just_A_Guy]

A published account published about the time of the dedication in Harper's Weekly, authored by Eugene Young, identifies the statue over the arch between the Terrestrial and Celestial rooms as Mary.

[Blackmarch]

I wouldnt be surprised at any catholic influences present at the SLC temple... If i recall right the designer or somene involved with the design was tasked to go study cathedrals. Also id imagine that there would be use of traditional symbols for representing God and etc, or at least how various symbols are looked at. And id imagine a lot of that would stem more or less from catholic roots in some manner or another