Jennifer Champoux

Jennifer Champoux is the director of the Book of Mormon Art Catalog and a scholar of the visual culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She co-edited Approaching the Tree: Interpreting 1 Nephi 8 (Maxwell Institute, 2023) and is currently writing a book on pioneer artist C. C. A. Christensen. Her scholarship on religious art can also be found in several articles at BYU Studies. Previously, she taught art history as adjunct faculty at Northeastern University and Emerson College. Jenny lives in Colorado with her husband, three children, and two dogs. She loves serving as the Young Women President in her ward.

Latter-day Saint Life

Does Our Artwork of Mary and Martha Change How We View Them?

By Jennifer Champoux

May 16, 2019 03:01 PM MDT

Years ago I brought a friend with me to a Relief Society activity at church, and when she asked me why we had a painting of Mary and Martha hanging in the room, I really didn’t know how to answer. Of all the possible depictions of scripture stories of women that the Church might choose from, why that one? Although the scene was painted by old masters like Vermeer and Velazquez, it has never been especially popular among other Christian groups. Yet, it is a subject painted by many artists in the Church and these images are common in meetinghouses and lesson manuals.

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