The Architecture and Landscape Gardening of the Exposition Part 6

The panel in the center of the attic, representing America, reads

Facing west from California's sh.o.r.es, Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound, I, a child, very old, over waves Towards the house of maternity, The land of migrations look afar, Look off the sh.o.r.es of my western sea, The circle almost circled.

--Whitman.

The panel at the right of the attic, representing Spain, is inscribed

Truth, witness of the past, councillor of the present, guide of the future.--Cervantes.

Court of the Universe In the Promenade by Night

The inscriptions on the Arch of the Rising Sun, facing the Court, are as follows:

The panel at the left of the attic, representing China, is inscribed

They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it.--Confucius.

The panel in the center of the attic, representing India, reads

The moon sinks yonder in the west, While, in the east, the glorious sun Behind the herald dawn appears Thus rise and set in constant change those s.h.i.+ning orbs And regulate the very life of this our world.

--Kalidasa.

The panel at the right of the attic, representing j.a.pan, reads

Our eyes and hearts uplifted, seem to gaze on heaven's radiance.-- Hitomaro.

Court of the Universe A Niche and Urn by Night

The inscriptions on the Arch of the Rising Sun, facing away from the Court, are as follows:

The panel at the left of the attic, representing Arabia, reads

He that honors not himself lacks honor wheresoe'er he goes.--Zuhayr.

The panel in the center of the attic, representing Persia, is inscribed

The balmy air diffuses health and fragrance, So tempered is the genial glow that we know neither heat nor cold.

Tulips and hyacinths abound.

Fostered by a delicious clime, the earth blooms like a garden.

--Firdausi.

The panel at the right of the attic, representing Spain, reads

A wise man teaches, be not angry; from untrodden ways turn aside.--Phra Ruang.

Palace of Transportation In the Corinthian Colonnade

This promenade, formed by the vast portico of the Palace of Agriculture, is in harmony with the architectural scheme of the Court of the Universe. It is the eastern wall of the aisle leading from the the main court to the Column of Progress.

The shafts of the pillars are fluted and capped after the Corinthian order. Terra cotta, mellow in tone, is the color which has been used upon the travertine material of the columns, and the walls flanking the majestic array of pillars are painted a warm pink. The height of the ceiling is intensified by its deep blue, which seems to blend with the azure of the sky, as one glimpses it through the far opening of the corridor. Masked lanterns adorn the arched ceiling; on the columns are sh.e.l.l-screened lamps and at night the sweep of the promenade is magnified by the indirect lighting effects.

Venetian Court Palace of Agriculture

The great triumphal arches of the Central Court dominate the connecting aisles on either side, the Arch of the Rising Sun forming the west side of the Florentine Court and the Arch of the Setting Sun the east side of the Venetian Court. All the splendor and dignity of architectural treatment and decorative ornament that enrich the arches as they face toward the Court of the Universe are repeated on the reverse sides.

The treatment of the side walls in the Florentine and Venetian Courts is identical, displaying some of the most delightful features of the Italian Renaissance, with marked richness in the use of both color and ornament. The walls are covered with a diaper pattern in pink and warm ivory. Bright blue and deep orange stain the overhanging cornice. The great windows are latticed and bound with green, the keystone of their arches being a quaint figure with folded wings. Between the arches are inset blue Italian medallions. Between the windows are coupled Corinthian columns, their shafts richly overlaid with ornament after patterns suggested by the churches and palaces of southern Italy. The planting is profuse, with ma.s.ses of green against the walls and a wealth of bloom, pink predominating in the Florentine Court and yellow in the Venetian.

Court of the Four Seasons The Night Illumination

The Court of the Four Seasons is the most restful, the most intimate and the most harmonious of the three main courts, an effect produced by its cla.s.sic simplicity and the charm of its architecture, sculpture and planting.

The long approach of the north court, which is entered from the Esplanade, is bordered by the stately colonnades of the Palace of Agriculture on the east and the Palace of Food Products on the west. The columns are Ionic, the decorative treatment of their capitals, and of the frieze above, being in fruits and grains, happily conventionalized.

The green sward of the avenue is set, here and there, with fine yew trees, while tall, slim eucalypti flank the entrance to the Court.

The Fountain of Ceres designed by Evelyn Beatrice Longman, by the poise of its crowning figure and by the grace and dignity of its entire outline, no less than by its cla.s.sic conception and fine architectural feeling, enhances the chaste beauty of the long vista whether seen by day outlined against the misty bay and the sweep of hills beyond, or by night, silhouetted against the white rays of the scintillators which are placed on the harbor's edge.

Court of the Four Seasons The Great Half Dome

The theme of the Court, the fruitfulness of the changing seasons, is sympathetically rendered by architecture, sculpture and painting in happy combination. The decorative forms all employ agricultural motives, and the sculptured groups or figures and the mural paintings are variations of the same thought.

In architecture, the Court, which was designed by Henry Bacon of New York, is almost severely cla.s.sic, enriched in its minor details by touches of the Italian Renaissance. The Half Dome, which lies directly opposite the long northern approach, is modeled after Hadrian's villa near Rome. The decoration of the vault of the dome is influenced by the richer coloring of the Court of Palms into which it opens on its inner side, while the archway softens into lighter tones in harmony with the more delicate coloring of the Court of the Four Seasons.

The fine balance of line and proportion which characterizes the Court is shown in the three sculptured figures by Albert Jaegers,--"Harvest,"

the seated figure which fitly crowns the half dome, blending finely with its n.o.bility and strength of outline, and "Rain" and "Suns.h.i.+ne," which surmount the splendid columns of Sienna marble on either side of the dome.

Court of the Four Seasons The Western Archway

The east and west entrances to the Court are ma.s.sive archways, most satisfying in their purity and dignity of architectural form and treatment, as well as in the superb outlook which they give on either hand. The arches are divided by Corinthian pilasters of Sienna marble.

Within, their vaulted ceilings are delicately colored and modeled in faint relief after ancient cla.s.sic designs, suggesting harvest scenes.

The spandrels in the triangles over the curve of the arch and the four times repeated figures which serve as pilasters in the paneled attic s.p.a.ce above, are by August Jaegers. All are gracefully molded women's figures, and all alike are emblematic of the richness of the harvest.

The signs of the zodiac letter the cornice between the arches and the attic. The inscription above the eastern gateway is from Spenser's "Faerie Queene," and that over the western from "The Triumph of Bohemia"

by George Sterling.