Anthony Sweat is one of my favorite Latter-day Saint speakers at BYU Education Week and as a podcast guest. A very knowledgeable professor, I’m constantly amazed at the vastness of the information he knows about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ancient Biblical history, and about the scriptures themselves. He’s also an artist, so I was excited to see his paintings and read about why he chose the subjects in his newest book, Repicturing the Restoration.
He chooses subjects that are not the most obvious, using angles and lighting in his paintings which continue that theme. I love the painting called Purgatory, which shows Joseph Smith and his faithful wife, Emma, in a dimly-lit room, lit only by fire in the fireplace, while he explains to her the principle of plural marriage. Her body language emits tension while his shows pure weariness.
It is powerful, accompanied by the artist/scholar’s explanation of the principle’s history and why he chose to portray the moment in this way.
Although I bought the digital version of the book, would make a beautiful coffee table book in hardback form. Page after page is both informative and thought-provoking. If LDS church history is something you are interested in, I recommend it highly. It is currently available in digital form only on Amazon and digital and hardback form at http://www.deseretbook.com.
9.5 out of 10 stars
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