Ten years of serious thought and reflection and five years of intense research have been put into this painting entitled “Prophet, Seer and Translator.”

At the beginning of my research I was made aware of a photographic image of the Prophet Joseph Smith that was found in the Library of Congress. Many people are familiar with this image, it is very reflecive of the oil painting that hung in the Mansion House in Nauvoo for many years and has a companion Painting of Emma. It has become known as the" Carson Daguerrotype"

This image was purported by Reed Simonsen and Chad Fugate to be an actual photograph of the Prophet from life. Some would say that their research seemed to be “iron clad” but something seemed wrong about the image to me. We spent some time reflecting on that image and other images found to be “Joseph Smith” then in 1995 I decided to dedicate most of my spare time studying the Prophet’s real image. The last eight years have resulted in 276 type set pages being written on this subject. In short, the historical and anatomical data found have proven that the “Carson Daguerreotype” studied by Simonsen and Fugate is not a photograph of the Prophet from life. It seems to be a Photograph of the RLDS Oil painting. To the left you can see a Flash video that shows the exacting relationship between the Oil Painting and the Carson Daguerreotype. This flash shows the two images overlaid and we dissolve between them splitting the images in half and showing the correlations between them. As you can see they are the same images one the original Oil painting and the other a photograph with slight cropping and touch ups made, but the same still. You can Click Here to see a larger version of the same Flash Video.

The full research on the anatomy and images of Joseph Smith can be found a new book being published by Eborn book and is entitled, ‘Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again.’ The culmination of all this research though has been brought together and is manifested within this painting "Prophet, Seer and Translator”.

Scannel Daguerreotype

Back in December of 1994 two historians from the Community of Christ (then RLDS Church) Ronald Romig, and Lachlan MacKay brought forward another photographic image, known as the “Scannel_Daguerreotype ”, which they thought was taken of the Prophet Joseph Smith from life. This image was published in the Saints’ Herald, (Vol. 141, #12 (December 1994), 8-10, 12) and a copy was published in the Sunstone magazine not long after. My own independent research was preformed on this image also and although a provenance on this image cannot be found the image is consistent with all historical and anatomical information relating to Joseph Smith. Although this image cannot be 100% authenticated the man in the image resembles Joseph to a remarkable degree. Nothing has been found to date that would disprove this image.

Oliver Cowdery Painting

In the fall of 2006 it was decided to commission this painting new painting of Joseph Smith. From the beginning careful attention was given to many LDS artists who had a love for Joseph Smith in their hearts. Many very talented artists were pondered over. That same year Ken_Corbett had the opportunity to work on a painting of Oliver_Cowdery. After seeing the great effort and work that he performed with the Cowdery Painting, we felt that possibly Ken was the one to try and paint the impossible. Then later that year it was discovered that Ken was a Smith descendant through Joseph Smith Sr. and Hyrum. This was the concluding factor in choosing him to paint this portrait. He not only has a right to try because of his artistic talent but has the right based on his heritage and lineage.

After several months of communications, all of the research was given to Ken. About four months before the work commenced on canvas he studied the information. Among these items were:

1) A few primary portraits of Joseph, drawn or painted during the Prophet’s life.

2) All of the data gathered about each feature of Joseph from contemporary word descriptions.

3) All of the anatomical items including the death mask, skull photographs from previous publications, several photographs of pieces of Joseph’s hair. (These were also studied and
examined in person.)

4) Many photographs of clothing and artifacts Joseph actually wore. (These were also studied and examined in person.)

5) Several pictures of all four sons of Joseph Smith.

6) Finally a copy of the “Scannel daguerreotype” which was published in the Saints Herald in December of 1994 . 

Ken’s mission was to study all the materials until he felt confident that he could paint Joseph as no one had before. The ultimate goal was to have him assemble all the parts together and then to bring the spirit of Joseph into the painting. The framework for the painting was the “Scannel daguerreotype.” Although is it not absolutely authenticated as Joseph, anatomically it matches every feature of Joseph. It is also a living person that can be painted from. Many photographers have a photo shoot with their subject, and then paint from the photo. This daguerreotype does have some problems however. It is lacking in many places in detail in the face and clothing.

Joseph's Death Mask

The death mask has then been used to fill in any unknowns that the daguerreotype is missing. Even with these two items there still was not enough information about the shape and size of Joseph’s eyes.

Alexander Hale

Therefore the primary photos and Joseph’s sons were used to determine the shape and size of the eyes. A heavy emphasis was placed on Alexander Hale’s eyes since we have statements that his eyes most resembled that of the Prophets’. Then all of the clothing that Joseph wore was placed on the silhouette of his body in hopes of finishing off the portrait in a historically accurate way.

Ken first did a pencil drawing of the portrait on canvas, which he called a “cartoon.” This sketch took almost a week. This he stated would help the final outcome tremendously. The portrait was then evaluated and slight changes were made.

A clip of Joseph's Hair

After these preliminary steps were taken it was time to bring the portrait to life with oils. Extreme care was taken to match exact color tones to the entire image, based on all the evidence. Several evaluations of the painting were done by all involved in the process. Slight changes were made each time to ensure that we were staying true to the research. One of the greatest temptations was to make the portrait of Joseph into the man we wanted him to be, instead of who he was based on the facts.

 

One of Joseph's Vest and Colar

The final portrait was completed on April 6, 2007. This was exactly one hundred and seventy-seven years since the establishment of The Church of Christ on April 6, 1830. On that day Joseph was sustained as the Church’s spiritual leader and in Section 21 of the Doctrine and Covenants he was named by the Lord a “Prophet, Seer and Translator.” In that spirit weI therefore present this new portrait entitled "Prophet_Seer_and_Translator” to those who love the Prophet Joseph Smith and hope that this portrait will help “Millions to know Brother Joseph again.”