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Why is this sculpture the closest resemblance to Joseph Smith?
Mr. Paul Forster was the first one to have access to the Joseph Smith death mask artistically. The architect Mr. Forster was working with knew Wilford C. Wood who owned the death mask. He purchased it from the Catholics who originally owned it. The architect made arrangements for Mr. Forster to have access to it for an afternoon in the Wilford Wood Studio.
“The death mask was taken four days after Joseph Smith died. You could imagine the deterioration of a face after four days. I did an exact copy of the death mask and then animated it. I was working in the Temple; Stake President Hunsaker was sitting next to me. He fell asleep. He had much the same nose as Joseph Smith did. While asleep the musculature on his mouth, neck and cheeks changed, so I recorded that in my mind. I had talked to N. B. Lundwall the church historian. He was the one that gave me all the different stories about Joseph Smith and his character. Nobody else had even heard of these stories, ever. Nobody else had access to Lundwall, because he died shortly thereafter. I was able to get the insight into Joseph Smith from Mr. Lundwall that others did not get a chance to. I reacted and did the sculpture from what I knew and a sense of inspiration and intuition. You cannot be non-effected by that type of emotion, because that’s all it is, emotion. President McKay commissioned me to do this piece a year before he died.”
Paul Forster
President McKay made the statement at his homestead up in Huntsville that Mr. Forster was the finest artist in the world.
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