Wizja Lehiego—Drzewo Życia (Lehi’s Vision—The Tree of Life)
In depicting Lehi’s dream, “Śledź captures the crowded sensation of ‘numberless concourses’ (1 Ne. 8:21) pressing toward the tree and its brilliant white fruit,” observes Brown. But while most depictions of Lehi’s vision separate the tree of life from the rod of iron, Śledź joins them together, displaying “Lehi firmly stationed beneath the tree [and continuing] to hold fast to the iron rod,” Brown says. “Because why would you ever stop?” Photos by Bradley Slade.
What happens when you give a Catholic woodcarver the Book of Mormon? You get art that depicts familiar scenes in surprising new ways, as in Roman Śledź’s devotional carvings.
Śledź, an internationally renowned Polish folk artist, received a copy of the Book of Mormon in the early 1990s from Walter L. Whipple (BA ’68, MM ’69, MA ’96), then serving as the first mission president in Poland. Whipple, later a BYU professor of Polish, fell in love with Polish art while serving and began purchasing carvings, hundreds of which now decorate every spare surface of his home. Among these are biblical sculptures he commissioned from Śledź.
Though he remained a devout Catholic, Śledź was moved by many of the stories he read in the Book of Mormon. He offered to carve additional scenes for Whipple, including Lehi’s vision of the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ’s ministry to the Nephite children, and the brother of Jared’s encounter with the Lord.
Decades later Candace E. Brown (BA ’23), an art-history major and BYU Museum of Art intern, was charged with interviewing Whipple and writing display labels for pieces he had loaned to the museum. She visited his home and loved the sculptures on display.
“They needed to be seen,” says Brown. So for her senior capstone project and honors thesis, she curated a Harold B. Lee Library exhibit of Śledź’s Book of Mormon sculptures from Whipple’s collection.
Art-history professor and project coadvisor Elliott D. Wise (BA ’07, MA ’09) says it was moving to see Śledź’s willingness to “treat another religion’s text as sacred” and “read it devotionally.” He hopes the pieces will open up the way Latter-day Saints see familiar stories and revitalize faith.
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[Side A] Oto Syn moj umiłowany słuchaj (Go Behold, My Beloved Son, Hear
Him):
Śledź’s interpretation of Joseph Smith’s First Vision is unique from his other carvings. Where he portrays God the Father painted white in Book of Mormon scenes, nodding to the Catholic belief that “God is Spirit” (John 4:24), here “he imagines [Him] as a person with a mortal body,” observes exhibit curator Candace E. Brown (BA ’23). Śledź gives no explanation for this change.
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[Side B] Wizyta Moroniego (Visit of Moroni): On the backside of the First Vision sculpture, Śledź envisions the continued story, depicting “[the angel Moroni] slipping down this conduit” into Joseph’s bedroom to testify that he will bring forth the Book of Mormon. “Śledź recognizes that Joseph Smith’s vision of Father and Son, as well as his visit from the Angel Moroni, are critical to the discovery of [the Book of Mormon],” says Brown.
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Pierwsza Wizja Lehiego (Lehi’s First Vision): “Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem,” says Lehi after viewing its destruction in his vision. Then he continues: “Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! … because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish” (1 Ne. 1:13-14).
Śledź captures this dichotomy of justice and mercy in his version of this rarely depicted Book of Mormon scene. Including Jesus’s cross in the background, Śledź acknowledges “Jerusalem’s shame,” says Brown. But Śledź depicting God’s throne “high in the heavens” (1 Nephi 1:14) and His glory descending to the earth emphasizes how that same event “allows for God’s grace and mercy.”
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Przebudzenie
Króla Lamoniego (The Waking of King Lamoni): Śledź’s sculpture of King Lamoni suggests a change in Lamoni’s perspective on women, notes Wise. Lamoni raises his hand, praising both God and his wife, who kneels beside him: “Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou” (Alma 19:12; emphasis added).
In seeing the Savior “come forth, and be born of a woman” (Alma 19:13), Lamoni comprehends that “there is no one . . . more important in that aspect of the plan of salvation than the Virgin Mary,” says Wise. Śledź suggests “this is why this first declaration of Lamoni’s faith is directed toward his wife,” Wise adds.
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Side A: Nefi i Lehi w więzieniu (Nephi and Lehi in Prison): Helaman 5 tells the story of the prophets Nephi and Lehi imprisoned by dissenters and delivered by the power of God. In the darkness of the prison, Nephi and Lehi are “encircled about with a pillar of fire” and converse with angels that only they can see. Śledź paints Nephi and Lehi white “to emphasize their total spiritual transformation and protection” and their eyes blue “to show that they’re having a vision,” says Brown. And like Mary in Catholic annunciation art, their hands are crossed across their chest in a gesture conveying “Christlike acceptance of God’s will.”
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Side B: Angels Descend and Lamanites are Converted: Upon seeing Nephi and Lehi surrounded by a pillar of heavenly fire, the Nephite and Lamanite dissenters ask, “What shall we do?” (Hel. 5:40). Instructed to pray and ask for forgiveness from God, they kneel and address Heavenly Father, whereupon “angels descend to minister to the new believers. The first angel to reach them extends hands and wings in a gesture of welcome,” observes Brown, while one man grasps the angel’s wing in apparent awe of what he sees.
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Nefi na wiezy (Nephi on the Tower): The story of the prophet Nephi praying on his garden tower is rarely chosen by Latter-day Saint artists. But without a knowledge of the typical interpretation, Śledź brings out what is spiritually powerful to him, observes Brown. In this scene, Śledź goes beyond depicting Nephi’s solitary prayer. “Imagin[ing] a range of possible responses” from the passerby headed to the chief marketplace, Śledź “imbue[s] [the moment] with emotional power.”
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Bog swiadczy o synostwie Jezusa (God Testifies to the Sonship of Jesus): Śledź imagines Christ’s appearance to the Nephites with distinct Catholic imagery. “Part of [Catholic] belief,” says Brown, “is that [the] wounds [of Christ] are perpetually fresh.” In this piece we see blood pouring from his hands and side as the Nephites feel and touch Him. This active bleeding, says Brown, powerfully emphasizes “the eternal immediacy of [Jesus’s] sacrifice” for every one of us.
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The use of pink and blue in the background of this scene draws on Polish artistic tradition. A beloved
Polish painting, The Divine Mercy, depicts Christ with two rays of light—pink and blue—emanating
from His heart. The pink and blue allude to “the blood and water that came from Jesus’s side” at His
Crucifixion, “which, according to legend, [came from His] heart,” says Wise. Polish tradition interprets
these colors as the tenderness and divine mercy of Jesus. It’s a fitting backdrop in this piece, says
Wise, as Christ ministers to the Nephite children one by one.
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Nefi chrzci dwunastu wybranych (Nephi Baptizes the Chosen Twelve):
Śledź “imagine[s] a line of authority” from God in his rendering of the twelve Nephite apostles being baptized “with the Holy Ghost and with fire,” says Brown (3 Nephi 19:13). Nephi stands with his arms outstretched as a representative of Christ, but “[we see] Heavenly Father directing through the Holy Ghost, which is descending down to the Son,” she continues. The actual baptism is represented by the streams of fire flowing from God to Christ and from Christ to his apostles.
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Side A: Jezus spełnia pragnienia uczniow (Jesus Fulfills the Desires of the Disciples): Śledź draws upon traditional Catholic iconography in his rendering of granting the wishes of Christ’s Nephite disciples before ascending to heaven (3 Nephi 28). In Catholic annunciation art (depictions of the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary), Mary’s hand poses mean specific things, says Brown. One common hand pose shows “crossed hands over the heart,” representing Mary’s acceptance and trust in God. The disciples mirror this pose in Christ’s presence.
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Side B: The Three Nephites: Brown notes how the three Nephite disciples who requested to stay on earth until Christ returns form a pillar “connecting the men, women, and children on earth to the angels above.” They, like John the Beloved, desired to “bring the souls of men unto [Christ], while the world shall stand” (3 Nephi 28:9). Through the people paying “rapt attention” to the disciples, Śledź shows how eagerly the people receive them, says Brown.
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Palec Boży (The Finger of God): A favorite of Śledź’s, his sculpture of the Jaredites’ journey to the promised land is a unique portrayal not only in its Noah’s-ark-like barges or in the silvery glitter he places on the stones touched by God, but also in showing the faith of ordinary people.
Beyond the brother of Jared’s vision, Śledź depicts the brother of Jared’s family moving toward the barges at the base of the sculpture. “None look back,” notes Brown. And the lambs they guide forward are “covered in the same white paint as God” and highlight their trust that “the Lamb of God” will guide them.
“You can see [Śledź’s own] incredible faith in all of it,” says Brown.
