Cyrus E. Dallin — Spiritual Impact of the Angel Moroni Statue

Cyrus E. Dallin, a sculptor who was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time, was commissioned to create the Angel Moroni statue for the Salt Lake Temple. Upon completing the work, he expressed that the process of sculpting the angel brought him closer to God than any other work he had ever performed.

Fuller account of this event (in the witness’s own words):

When Church President Wilford Woodruff (1807–98) asked non-LDS artist Cyrus Dallin to create a statue, Dallin declined. ‘I considered that my “Angel Moroni” brought me nearer to God than anything I ever did,’ he said. ‘It seemed to me that I came to know what it means to commune with angels from heaven.’ Knowing that Dallin’s parents had once been active Latter-day Saints, President Woodruff encouraged him to consult with his mother. Dallin’s mother felt he should accept the commission.