"Against the Christian Door" takes place in
the upstairs bedroom of the Carthage Jail,
in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844.
Here, the Prophet Joseph Smith, his brother
Hyrum Smith, John Taylor, and Willard Richards
were attacked by an angry mob of over 100
men.
The Prophet had many opportunities to escape
the mob at Carthage, but chose to remain instead.
He stated: “I am going like a lamb to the
slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning;
I have a conscience void of offense towards
God, and towards all men.
I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be
said of me—he was murdered in cold blood.”
Hyrum Smith, the brother of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, was also a member of the First Presidency,
and the Patriarch of the Church.
Hyrum's brotherly dedication to Joseph and
unwavering support of the Church led him down
many roads of hardship and persecution with
his brother and finally led him down the road
to Carthage where he, too, would give his
life.
John Taylor, was a member of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles and later became President
of the Church.
John Taylor's life was threatened many times
during the activities leading up to June 27,
1844 and would continue to be for many years
following.
He was shot four times at Carthage but survived
his injuries to be a living witness to the
martyrdom.
Willard Richards, a member of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles and the Secretary to the
Prophet, had told Joseph: "Brother Joseph,
you did not ask me to cross the river with
you—you did not ask me to come to Carthage—you
did not ask me to come to jail with you—and
do you think I would forsake you now?
But I will tell you what I will do; if you
are condemned to be hung for treason, I will
be hung in your stead, and you shall go free."
The door of the jailor's bedroom was a "Christian
Door."
It's an architectural term used to describe
the design of the door itself.
The design was created to be a reminder to
a Christian of their beliefs through the symbols
of the Cross and the open Bible, which were represented
by the negative shape between panels on the
top of the door and the panels, themselves,
at the bottom.
It's ironic that Christian men in the mob
were shooting through a Christian door to
kill men who had devoted their lives to the
cause of Christ and who died as Christian
martyrs.
I had the actual death masks, that I positioned
and lit the same way as my models, and then,
using Photoshop, to position and make sure
that they were going to look as close as I
could get to the lighting that they would
have actually had.
It was an overcast day, they said—cloudy,
kind of overcast.
It gives kind of a diffused lighting.
And, so, the lighting in here is not real
strong.
There are some subtle shadows, some slight
shadows, but not real strong.
But I was trying to capture, as close as I
could, what it might have actually looked
like, with as good as my skills as I could
do.
What they really wore.
How they really would have stood.
How tall they were.
What their clothes looked like.
What the canes would have looked like.
What the door would have looked like.
So that it might transport the viewer to that
moment.
I tried to capture that moment where, to keep
it shut, where they looked at each other and
said: "This is it.
You're not just talking about giving your
life for me, or being my friend in hard times,
you're doing it."
But they're sort of housed in this protection
of their friends, while facing the danger themselves.
And not hiding in the corner while John Taylor
and Willard Richards are blocking the door.
They're right there, at the door, together.
I can't think of someone better that the Prophet
want to have been with, in those final moments,
than his brother Hyrum.
