Color Palette in Temple Decor
Color Palette in Temple Decor
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The main colors of the Richmond temple are White, Gold, Blue, Red, and Green.
The main colors of the Richmond temple are White, Gold, Blue, Red, and Green.
I think the grand staircase is a great place to see the color scheme of the interior of the Richmond temple.
I see a lot of similarities in the garments of the high priest.
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This stained glass window at the recommend desk has the colors:
white and gold and blue and red and green.
Brown and beige are neutral colors also found in the temple.
Let's look at each of those colors individually.
White
White is the most obvious temple color.
The exterior of the temple is clad with Moleanos Limestone from Portugal.
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In the meeting house adjacent to the temple you can see this painting. (In fact, there are two prints of this painting.) This shows Jesus giving a commission to His apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel. In the background you can see the city of Jerusalem. Jersualem is known as the white city because much of it was built out of limestone. The construction material of the Richmond temple helps me remember the Holy City.
This picture was taken on the day of the temple dedication.
White:
The most obvious color in the temple is white. Temple patrons even change into white clothing to participate in temple worship.
White can symbolize a blank slate.
It is a symbol of unity and equality.
White symbolizes purity and forgiveness: "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" and "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Heavenly messengers are described as white: "His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow"
Even the Lord is described with white: "And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them"
Gold
Gold is used as embellishment all over the temple.
There are golden doors at the entry to the temple.
(This is a particularly fun image because you can peak through the window and see an image of the Savior waiting inside the temple.)
Gold:
Gold is a well known symbol for riches.
Gold was given to the infant Jesus.
But we are also reminded of our worth:
"when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
"I will make a man more precious than fine gold"
And our priorities:
"the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold"
Gold is a symbol of heaven. "and the city was pure gold"
Blue
The color blue is seen in accents in the temple.
This was really apparent to me in the chapel. The carpeting is blue. There is a blue trim around the ceiling and blue features prominently in all four paintings. These are all images that connect Jesus with His mother Mary.
image: erikegon
image: Wellcome Collection
image: elizaraxi
image: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Blue is associated with Mary the mother of Jesus in art. Mary is very often depicted wearing blue.
Blue is also the color of the sky and a reminder of heaven.
So, Blue can remind us of Jesus' mortal mother and Jesus' Eternal Heavenly Father.
Blue is one of the colors of the tabernacle, "blue and purple and scarlet" (I haven't seen much purple represented in the Richmond temple, but I wonder if it is not the same effect with the two shades of blue. In other words blue means the light blue and purple means the dark blue.)
Blue represents water.
image: החבלן
image: Rijksmuseum
Jewish tassels would include one blue thread. This is the type of hem that Jesus wore that that woman with the issue of blood touched and was healed, so blue can be a symbol of healing.
Also, compare the colors of the tabernacle with the colors of the Harlot of Babylon:
Tabernacle: "They shall take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen"
Harlot: "The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold"
In Revelation we see a lot of counterfeit. The Harlot of Babylon is a counterfeit for the bride of the lamb. Notice that the color scheme is similar, but the difference was blue. Blue represents the heavenly. Apparently, that is something that couldn't be counterfeited.
Red
Red:
Red is a symbol of Jesus. This can represent the blood of the lamb. This can represent the winepress.
"The Lamb of God hath overcome and trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God."
"And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat."
Red is also an important part of the symbols of forgiveness: "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool"
The miracle of water into wine is a great symbol of the atonement. Jesus took water that was meant for ritual washing, full of impurities and made it into the best wine ever. This is just how Jesus would drink the bitter cup and turn that into precious drops of blood. Not blood that stains, but blood that cleanses from sin.
Red is also a symbol of Adam.
The Hebrew word Adam means red and has connections to the words Adamah - earth and Dam - blood.
Green
Green:
My mother taught me that any good composition needs to have at least a touch of green.
Green symbolizes the natural world.
This could be a symbol of the goodness of creation or the fallen world.
Image: Picryl
When Adam and Eve partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they recognize that they are naked and use fig leaves to cover their nakedness.
You can see in this image how well that plan really worked.
Our natural solutions are woefully inadequate. Nature symbolized by green is insufficient to cover us.
(The Lord comes up with a better solution. "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them." This solution requires sacrificing an animal- symbolized by the color red- to provide adequate cover.)
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