The ancient apostles have traveled again, from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Carrara, Italy, and on to Rome. It’s the second time in as many centuries those cities have been linked with the likes of Peter, James, John and Paul.
In the early 1800s, a Danish sculptor trained in Rome crafted sculptures of Jesus Christ and 12 New Testament apostles — first of clay, then of plaster and finally of Carrara marble, with all 13 destined for a redesigned Copenhagen cathedral.
More recently, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints digitally mapped the statues in Copenhagen, quarried marble in Carrara to fashion the modern-day replicas and then placed the reproductions within view of its new Rome Italy Temple, the Church’s first in a biblical land.
But there’s more of a link here than just the three European cities.
The statues underscore the connection between the Holy Land, Rome and Salt Lake City — the geography of the Bible with the city central to Christianity over the ages and now with the Latter-day Saints’ headquarters city in Utah.