{261} The Lower Corridor is entered from the Annex Passage through the north wall of the Temple, and extends thence southerly to the opposite side. The corridor is twelve feet wide, and is richly finished and furnished. On the east wall is a large painting by William Armitage, showing the Prophet Joseph Smith preaching to the Indians. Smaller paintings are hung on either side. Doorways leading from this corridor admit to the Lower Lecture Room and the Garden Room on the east, and to the Baptistry and its dressing rooms on the west. At the south end is seen the lower section of the Grand Stairway. See pages 183 and 186. {262} PLATE 11.--THE BAPTISTRY {263} The Baptistry or Baptismal Room is thirty-two by forty-five feet and is situated on the west of the Lower Corridor. The great Baptismal Font occupies the center of the room, and is supported by twelve life-sized oxen of cast-iron, which stand in a depression three feet below the floor level. The oxen are grouped, three facing toward each of the cardinal points of the compass. In this font, which has a capacity of over four hundred gallons, is administered the ordinance of baptism by immersion. By far the greater number of baptisms here solemnized are in behalf of the dead, in which ordinance the deceased person is represented by a living proxy. Steps are provided for convenience in entering and leaving the font. Platforms guarded by a railing are furnished with seats for the accommodation of recorders and witnesses whose presence at each ceremony is requisite. See pages 183-185: also 77 and 89-93. {264} PLATE 12.--THE LOWER LECTURE ROOM {265} The room so designated is entered from the Lower Corridor near the north end. It is forty by forty-five feet in area, and is seated to accommodate two hundred and fifty persons. This room is used in the first course of instruction incident to the Endowment. As seen in the accompanying illustration it is plainly furnished, without wall-ornament or other embellishment. The portal hung with curtains, which appears in the back-ground of the picture, leads into the Garden Room. See pages 185, 186: also 99-101. {266} PLATE 13.--THE GARDEN ROOM {267} As already seen, the Lower Lecture Room is marked by simplicity and plainness; the Garden Room is characterized by richness and beauty. Here ceiling and walls have been painted by master artists, who have depicted with effective skill the distant glory of sky and cloud, and the nearer beauties of earthly life. Landscape scenes cover the walls from floor to ceiling: there are gardens and glens, hills, valleys, and brooks, fruits and flowers, birds and other living things, all appearing amidst a setting of beauty, plenty, and peace. Lions and lambs are reposing in companionship, while insect and bird fly together.