Freedom to Worship (painting)

Infobox Painting|

image_size = 159px
title =Freedom of Worship
other_title_1 =
or Freedom to Worship
artist = Norman Rockwell
year = 1943
type = oil on canvas
height = 116.8
width = 90
height_inch = 46
width_inch = 35.5
diameter_cm =
diameter_inch =
city =
city-state|Stockbridge|Massachusetts
United States
museum = Norman Rockwell Museum

"Freedom to Worship" or "Freedom of Worship" is one of "Four Freedoms" paintings by Norman Rockwell that were inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the State of the Union Address, known as Four Freedoms, he delivered to the 77th United States Congress on January 6, 1941. [cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/documents/docpages/document_page70.htm|title=100 Documents That Shaped America:President Franklin Roosevelt's Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress (1941)|accessdate=2008-04-11|publisher=U.S. News & World Report, L.P.|work=U.S. News & World Report] The other paintings in this series were,

# "Freedom of Speech"
# "Freedom from Fear"
# "Freedom from Want"

"Freedom to Worship" was published in the February 271943 Issue of "The Saturday Evening Post" with a matching essay by Will Durant as part of the Four Freedoms series. [cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/Norman-Rockwells-Four-Freedoms-Inspire/dp/0936399422|title=Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms: Images That Inspire a Nation|accessdate=2008-04-11|publisher=Amazon.com, Inc.|date=2008] Rockwell felt that this and "Freedom of Speech" were the most successful of the set. Early versions of this painting involved a group of patrons at a barbershop of varying religions and races. The problem was painting easily recognizable depictions of different religions and races because there was little agreement on what a person of certain religions should look like.cite book|title=Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People|isbn=0-8109-6392-2|chapter=The Four Freedoms|author=Hennessey, Maureen Hart and Anne Knutson|date=1999|pages=94-102|publisher=Harry N. Abrams, Inc. with High Museum of Art and Norman Rockwell Museum] The image is commonly enhanced and often darkened in reproduction because it uses a color combination of soft greys, beiges and browns. In addition, the paint was applied thinly, which allows the weave of the canvas to contribute to the image.

Critical review

Critical review of this painting describes disappointment of the universality of the "Freedom of Religion", which is disconcerting to practitioners of particular faiths.cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766759,00.html|title=I Like To Please People|accessdate=2008-04-07|date=1943-06-21|publisher=Time Inc.|work=Time magazine] Others perceive the scale of the picture that only shows heads and hands in prayer as disruptive. In fact, the scale alone is considered sufficient to dispell Rockwell's belief that this was one of the more successful depictions.

Notes