Introduction
On December 17, 2010, fire broke out in the historic Provo Tabernacle. An original Minerva Teichert painting, Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood, burned with the building. In response to the loss of this painting, efforts were made to better protect Minerva Teichert’s legacy.
Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood in the Provo Tabernacle, circa 1988.
Minerva Teichert painted Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood together with a scene of the First Vision for the Montpelier Idaho Tabernacle in 1934. In the original wooded scene, the ancient Apostles Peter, James, and John confer the Melchizedek Priesthood, or the authority to act in God’s name, on a kneeling Joseph Smith. Oliver Cowdery, about to receive the priesthood himself, kneels in prayer (see Doctrine and Covenants 27:12–13).
Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood, Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert, oil on canvas, 107" x 92.5", 1934.
In 1948 the mural was removed from the Montpelier Tabernacle in order to make way for a new heating system, and in 1952 it was moved to the historic Provo Tabernacle. On December 17, 2010, a fire broke out and the mural burned with the building. A fragment, wrapped around the wooden support near the bottom of the canvas, was salvaged from the wreckage. It is all that remains.
Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood (fragment), Minerva Kohlhepp Teichert, oil on canvas, 19 1/2" x 72 1/2", 1934.
In response to the loss of this painting, efforts were made to better protect Minerva Teichert’s legacy. The Church History Department worked with specialists to clean, repair, and conserve many of Teichert’s paintings in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s stewardship.