I will not deny the Christ - Moroni

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“I will not deny the Christ” by Al Young features Moroni. The painting is part of the series of Heroes of the Book of Mormon. Oil on panel. 27 in. x 48 in. Handmade frame measures approximately 36 in. x 57 in., and is gilded and antiqued. Categories: Al Young, Book of Mormon, Figure, Oil painting, Moroni, I will not deny the Christ
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“And I will not deny the Christ” - Moroni

by Al Young

Moroni

…and I make not myself known to the Lamanites lest they should destroy me. For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ. And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander withersoever I can for the safety of mine own life.

Moroni 1:1-3

The Story in the Painting

Following His resurrection in Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in the Americas to descendents of Joseph, the son of Jacob. Those descendents of ancient Israel accepted the teachings and the presence of the Savior. For two centuries they were taught from On High and dwelt in peace and beauty. Nevertheless, they fell into darkness, and in the 3rd century anno Domini, the people divided themselves so that the true followers of Christ were eventually compelled to take up arms to defend their religion, their freedom, their peace, their wives, and their children.

War and wickedness engulfed the land until a great and terrible battle swept the fallen remnants of the Lord’s disciples entirely from the earth in the 4th century; all, that is, save one, who lived to write the story’s end. For more than 30 years that solitary and faithful disciple was hunted by those who had destroyed his people, killed his kindred and his prophet father, and sworn to destroy every splinter of the light that once had bathed the land. His name was Moroni, and this is a painting of his enduring devotion. The title for the painting is derived from the words of Moroni found in the Book of Mormon, Moroni 1:3.

Symbolism in the Painting

Q: What inspired the subject of this painting?

A: Endurance, or faithfulness, is really the subject of the painting. The figure and the setting communicate a commitment to belief and to truth that is willing to overcome all obstacles.

Q: How does the figure communicate that willingness?

A: The figure is in stark isolation as far as the setting in which it appears. There isn’t anything else like it in the image. It’s alone. All the limbs of the trees, as well as the lighting, and everything else about the setting are combined against the figure. A spiral of darkness and grasping peril stands between it and the clear and sunlit skies beyond. The figure is clothed in a brilliant red—not the kind of thing to wear when trying to hide. And to make matters worse, the figure is standing in the sunlight, distinct in every way from its surroundings.

These aspects of the figure communicate a courageousness willing to risk everything for the sake of belief and hope and goodness. Even the stance of the figure is powerful, as of a man having whirled about to face whatever may come at him. The staff, of course, is a crucial attribute of the figure. It isn’t simply a stick picked up in haste, but is a weapon. And the artistry lavished upon that weapon, combined with the boldness of the attire and the stance of the figure, suggest a protagonist possessing considerable powers.

Q: What about the staff?

A: Perhaps the most prominent characteristic is the ornamentation on top of the staff. It presents a ram’s head carved above a bramble of thorns, or a thicket. Thus, in terms of the theme of the painting, it is the focal point because everything in the image spirals round it. The staff appears in front of the figure, suggesting that the Savior has gone before, has faced the darkness, has over come it, and stands in the light beyond the darkness that seeks to overwhelm any disciple.

Q: So, the staff represents the Savior as “a lamb caught in a thicket”, in the account of Abraham and Isaac?

A: Yes.

Q: What about the material culture represented by the staff and the cloak?

A: Moroni wandered in the wilderness for more than 30 years. He was not only the last of a civilization that had achieved a profound degree of refinement, but was a leader in what had been a very advanced culture. He possessed not only a great understanding, but a great sensitivity. Thus, the staff is not merely a limb picked up in the woods or cut free of the undergrowth, but is a refined artifact intended to suggest that as an artifact of an enlightened and refined material culture, it would encapsulate refinement.

In Moroni’s writings, we find nothing that is primitive or somehow under-developed. It seems reasonable to suppose, at least in terms of attempting to convey something about Moroni by means of a visual work of art, that everything else about him could well have been highly refined. For example, in the reminiscences he wrote, concerning the brutal destruction of his kindred, we find no bitterness. We find nothing but refinement in everything we know about him, and it seems appropriate to present him as having refined sensibilities concerning material things.

Q: So for those who don’t know, you actually create the material culture visible in your paintings?

A: For the most part, yes. I’m not trying to re-create a material culture that actually existed. I’m trying to communicate the way I feel about the characters and about the scenes that are part of the story. I’m trying to be true to the way I feel about these things, not necessarily to the way it was then, or the way it looked there.

As for creating the costumes and artifacts that appear in the paintings, I do try to craft as much of them as possible so the person posing for a figure can more readily step into character, and so the movement of the elements associated with the figure appear genuine. Consequently, the creation of a painting like this is saturated with the way I feel about it because that feeling has been behind every stitch and every stroke of the blade in the carving.

Research and Design

for the Manti Project

Image and Frame Documentation

The panel is masonite. Several gesso layers were applied directly to the panel. Oil paints used in the creation of this painting include Old-Holland Classic Oil Colours (Driebergen, Holland) as well as Rembrandt colors manufactured by Royal Talens, P.O. Box 4, Apeldoorn, Holland. Other oil colors used in the fabrication of the painting, as well as Walnut Alkyd Medium, were manufactured by M. Graham & Co., West Linn, Oregon 97068 USA.

The frame for the painting was created by Ashton Young in the studios at BenHaven in the fall of 2006.

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