The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just emailed the following news, "Claims Regarding Purported Image of Joseph Smith Explained." Here's a quote from the notice:

"A purported image of Joseph Smith is circulating widely on the Internet. Some persons have mistakenly claimed that this image belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that Church officials have verified or are verifying its authenticity. These claims are not true.

"This image, taken from a daguerreotype, belongs to the Community of Christ. On the basis of available evidence it is not possible to confirm that the image is in fact, of Joseph Smith. The Church does not have or own this photograph or any image of Joseph Smith other than several early artists’ portrayals of him and some early photographs of those artists’ portrayals. The Church does have the death mask of Joseph Smith."

The Community of Christ owns the photo that people have speculated is Joseph Smith and should be contacted at Communicationservices@cofchrist.org if you have additional questions.

To see a copy of the photograph visit, "LDS Church Issues Statement Regarding Joseph Smith Image" at KSL.com.

Regarding the death mask of Joseph Smith, Janet Thomas from the Church Magazines wrote an article entitled, "What Did Joseph Smith Really Look Like," which said:

"After the martyrdom, death masks were made quickly of Joseph and Hyrum. Death masks were made of plaster of paris, and in this age before photography was common, a death mask was one way to preserve what a person looked like. The death masks accurately preserve the facial bone structure of these two important men. If precise measurements are made of the death masks and similar measurements are made of paintings, drawings, and sculptures done since that time, it is possible to tell how accurate the artwork is as far as the placement of features" (New Era, Dec 2005, 28.)

Sister Thomas' article has pictures of Joseph Smith's death mask, paintings and statues of him, and even a lock of his hair, which can be seen in the PDF version of the December 2005 New Era.

So if someone sends you an email or tells you about this myth, please forward them to this blog post.