“Do Unto Others”

THIS PAINTING CAN BE TAKEN as a statement of Norman Rockwell's credo. To illustrate the saying "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, " he crowded his canvas with a symbolic catalogue of the family of man. Christians and Hindus, Muslims and Jews, Buddhists and Shintoists stand shoulder to shoulder in a hieratic composition that draws its strength from its solemnity.

Although not unique in Rockwell's work, this kind of painting is certainly atypical. Usually, his work is designed to be seen to maximum effect on the printed page. In this instance we can imagine that the composition might have succeeded just as well—perhaps even better—if it had been executed as a mural.