Freedom to Worship or Freedom of Worship is one of Four Freedoms

Four Freedoms (Norman Rockwell)

The Four Freedoms or Four Essential Human Freedoms is a series of oil paintings produced in 1943 by the American artist Norman Rockwell. The paintings are approximately equal in dimension with measurements of ×...

paintings by Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...

 that were inspired by United States President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 in the State of the Union Address

State of the Union Address

The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and his national priorities.The practice arises...

, known as Four Freedoms

Four Freedoms

The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech , he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy:# Freedom of speech and expression# Freedom of worship#...

, he delivered to the 77th United States Congress

77th United States Congress

-Major events:* December 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor* December 8, 1941: Joint Session of Congress met to hear President Roosevelt deliver his "Day of Infamy" speech...

 on January 6, 1941. The other paintings in this series were,

1. Freedom of Speech
   Freedom of Speech (painting)
   Freedom of Speech 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...
   
   
2. Freedom from Fear
   Freedom from Fear (painting)
   Freedom from Fear is one of Four Freedoms by Norman Rockwell that were inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the State of the Union Address he delivered to the 77th United States Congress on January 6, 1941...
   
   
3. Freedom from Want
   Freedom from Want (painting)
   Freedom from Want or The Thanksgiving Picture 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...
   
   

Freedom to Worship was published in the February 27, 1943 Issue of The Saturday Evening Post

The Saturday Evening Post

The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...

with a matching essay

Essay

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

 by Will Durant

Will Durant

William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife Ariel Durant and published between 1935 and 1975...

 as part of the Four Freedoms series. 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 religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

s 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. 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

Weave

Weave may refer to:*Hair weave*Mozilla Weave*Weaving...

 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. Others attack the scale of the picture that only shows heads and hands in prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

as disruptive.