Photo of the Christus statue in the visitor’s center of the Mexico City Temple, taken April 2, 2005. The role of the temple is that of the Church: to bring people unto Christ. This statue is a wonderful reminder of that basic fact.
(Click to enlarge.)
I’m never quite sure whether to be happy or frustrated when I see these displays in visitors centers. On the one hand, it’s good to have a unified message. On the other hand, I really don’t think every visitors center needs to try to be the same.
The Christus statue in Salt Lake City is a copy of a statue in Denmark, but it’s an extraordinarily good piece of sculpture in an impressive setting. (In fact, it holds such power, that I get a little annoyed when Temple Square tour guides play the recording of Christ’s words in that room. It seems to me that a few brief words by the guide should be followed by reverent and quiet contemplation instead.)
Anyway, what frustrates me about seeing these mini-Christus statues is that they sort of dilute the effect. They’re small, and some of them aren’t very good sculptures, especially in comparison to the one in Salt Lake. I would rather see the other visitors’ centers convey the majesty of Christ in some other way. For example, the visitors center at Independence, Missouri has the large painting of Christ’s second coming in the entryway, rather than a sculpture.
I think what we’re trying to do with these sculptures is give people the same experience they would have if they visited Temple Square. But we’re not. Perhaps we’re also giving people less of a reason to visit more than one Church facility–they may feel that if they’ve seen one, they’ve seen them all.
I note with great sadness that the mural formerly displayed at the Liberty visitor center has also been replaced by another cookie-cutter statue.