Rate the newly discovered locket photo purporting to be Joseph Smith.

[smokymountainrain]

Mrs. Santos said if he called me to a foreign mission, she would encourage me to go.

[Commando]

Am I the outlier here that thinks that's not him? Either that or just a giant coincidence that artists back in those days could paint anyone but JS accurately.

[BigPiney]

That's amazing.

Look at those eyes.

one looks left, the other looks right

[Pelado]

Mrs. Santos said if he called me to a foreign mission, she would encourage me to go.

My wife would have encouraged me to go, too, even just based on the painting.

[Northwestcoug]

Am I the outlier here that thinks that's not him? Either that or just a giant coincidence that artists back in those days could paint anyone but JS accurately.

I'm skeptical but can be persuaded. That article is thin on evidence. Could be a photo of a relative, or just anyone.

If it is him I like that photo way more than the painting. Makes him look like a real person.

[falafel]

Which wife?

Funny. But its Emma. Supposedly, the locket belonged to JSIII and came down through his family.

[Uncle Ted]

Am I the outlier here that thinks that's not him? Either that or just a giant coincidence that artists back in those days could paint anyone but JS accurately.

It is actually just a bad picture of Eddie Redmayne...




Or Joseph Smith Jr is one of the three nephites and the martyrdom was faked so he could make his exit. Now he goes by name Eddie Redmayne.

[Uncle Ted]

Funny. But its Emma. Supposedly, the locket belonged to JSIII and came down through his family.

Let me guess... some LDS dude with deep pockets pick it from the family for a small fortunate. That and some rather burnt Egyptian mummies and other interesting nic-nacs.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I'm skeptical but can be persuaded. That article is thin on evidence. Could be a photo of a relative, or just anyone.

If it is him I like that photo way more than the painting. Makes him look like a real person.

Really? Provenance seems pretty solid to me. And it looks way more convincing than any of the other photos that have cropped up.

[All-American]

Am I the outlier here that thinks that's not him? Either that or just a giant coincidence that artists back in those days could paint anyone but JS accurately.

Here is a painting of Brigham Young from 1845:



Here is a daguerrotype from 1850:

[All-American]

The biggest problem to me remains: we WANT this to be an authentic photograph. That is going to affect how we look at it, no matter what else.

If it turns out to be authentic, it is one of the most valuable historical relics in our church and state history. It's value would have been known to those who knew what it was, which has to be a mark against believing its provenance. Something like this presumably would not just get lost.

Now, there's a story explaining it: Emma was very careful about guarding his image, and then for many years you couldn't open the locket. Ok, fine. But it cries out for further investigation.

All of which is me mustering as much caution as I can, because the potential admittedly has me pretty excited.

[falafel]

I like this photograph, but I am old enough to recall when another photograph was found that was purported to be Joseph. Turned out to be someone else.

?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsethadamsmith.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fjoseph_smith_photo_first_pic_mormon.jpg

[falafel]

Am I the outlier here that thinks that's not him? Either that or just a giant coincidence that artists back in those days could paint anyone but JS accurately.

I've seen some of the portraits from incredible artists that don't even look like humans. Portraiture is not always about creating an exact likeness.

[Lost Student]

Let me guess... some LDS dude with deep pockets pick it from the family for a small fortunate. That and some rather burnt Egyptian mummies and other interesting nic-nacs.

The owner of the locket said he's going to donate it to the church (he left RLDS and joined LDS 8 years ago).

[All-American]

I like this photograph, but I am old enough to recall when another photograph was found that was purported to be Joseph. Turned out to be someone else.

?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsethadamsmith.files.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fjoseph_smith_photo_first_pic_mormon.jpg

Not sure why you are suspicious. It says right on the bottom that it is him.