Family at the Heart

SECURITY COUNCIL CHAMBER MURAL

THE FAMILY is at the heart of the United Nations project.  It is the centerpiece of the massive mural that presides over the Security Council chamber. The oil canvas painted by Norwegian artist Per Lasson Krohg (1889 – 1965) in 1952 depicts the world rebuilt after World War II around the theme of a phoenix rising from the ashes, and includes vignettes depicting agriculture, science, industry, progress, the founding of the United Nations, and a world in jubilation as it emerges from the darkness of conflict.

The phoenix is superimposed with the central vignette of the mural, which represents the family. A man and a woman on their knees and their child at their feet are the central piece of the mural. In other words, the family is the phoenix through which society is regenerated and the keystone of a peaceful world order.