The are only a few known photographs
of the completed Temple, all showing the building from a three quarters
front view. One print is located at the Illinois
Historical Society. A second print is located
at the Missouri Histoical Society. A third print
is located at the Latter-day Saints Church Archives. A fourth
print is owned by the Cedar City Chapter of
the Daughters of the Utah Ptioneers.
There is no known photograph of the rear of
the builidng. There is, however, a contemporary drawing
which shows the rear of the Temple.
Based on these sources, as
well as William Weeks's two architectural drawings of the Temple's facade, it is
possible to reconstruct the exterior appearance of the Temple with some
degree of accuracy.
The following are three drawings of
the exterior of the Nauvoo Temple. They provide a fairly accuarate
indication of the Temple's exterior. They are based on Doug
Corbett's drawing of the Temple's
front elevation, which was then used as a pattern in drawing the side and
rear elevations of the Temple.