The City of Domes Part 13

Elephant poles, Roman, by McKim, Mead & White; streamers by Guerin.

Bear fountains, in walls of Palaces of Liberal Arts and Manufactures, north of Tower of Jewels. Three on each wall. Colors, pink, dark blue, light green.

Largest court in Exposition. By McKim, Mead & White, architects, of New York. Inspired by Bernini's entrance to St. Peter's, in Rome.

Area of court, seven acres; 650 feet wide from arch to arch; 1200 feet from Tower of Jewels to Column of Progress.

Palaces around court: northeast, Transportation; northwest, Agriculture; southwest, Liberal Arts; southeast, Manufactures.

Sunken Garden, planted by John McLaren.

Height of Arches of Rising Sun and Setting Sun, 203 feet from base to tip of sculpture.

East, Arch of Rising Sun; Arch of Setting Sun, in west. Suggested by arches of Constantine and t.i.tus in Rome; modified by use of green lattices, Oriental, and by colossal sculptural groups, the East and the West, in place of Roman chariot or quadriga.

Columns in front of arches; composite, mingling of Ionic and Corinthian; female figure used as decoration.

"Angel of Peace," by Leo Lentelli, on each side of arches on Sienna columns, repeated four times. Sword is turned down, but not sheathed, a commentary on modern peace.

"Pegasus," in triangular s.p.a.ces above arch, by Frederick G. R. Roth, repeated on the other side.

Medallions, right and left sides of arches. Female figures suggesting Nature, by Calder; male figures suggesting Art, by B. Bufano, of New York.

Above medallions on frieze, decorative griffons.

Quotations on Arch of Rising Sun, west side, facing court, chosen by Garnett. Panels from left to right: "They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it," from Confucius, the Chinese philosopher; "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," from "Shakuntala" by Kalidasa, the Indian poet; "Our eyes and hearts uplifted seem to gaze on heaven's radiance," from Hitomaro, the j.a.panese poet.

Quotations on Arch of Rising Sun, east side, facing Florentine Court.

Panels from left to right: "He that honors not himself lacks honor wheresoe'er he goes," from Zuhayr, the Arabian poet; "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," from Firdausi, the Persian poet; "A wise man teaches, be not angry. From untrodden ways turn aside," from Phra Ruang, the Siamese poet.

Crenellated parapet on arches, note from military architecture. Archers used to shoot from behind.

Cleopatra's Needle repeated on edge of arches. Used by the Egyptians as historical records and public bulletins. Merely decorative.

Green jars, beautifully designed, in niches at base of Arches of Rising and Setting Sun, McKim, Mead & White. Eight in each arch.

Arch of the Rising Sun, surmounted by group representing types of Oriental civilization. "Nations of the East," designed by Calder, and executed in collaboration with Lentelli and Roth. From left to right: Arab sheik on horse, negro slave, Egyptian on camel, Arab falconer, Indian prince, Buddhist priest or lama from Thibet, Mohammedan with crescent, negro slave, and Mongolian on horseback.

Murals in arch by Edward Simmons, of New York. On north wall, from left to right, True Hope and False Hope, Commerce, Inspiration, Truth, Religion, Wealth, Family; in background Asiatic and American cities. On south wall: historical types, nations that have crossed the Atlantic; from left to right, "Call to Fortune," listening to the past, the workman, the artist, the priest, Raleigh the adventurer, Columbus the discoverer, the savage of lost Atlantis, the Graeco-Roman, and the Spirit of Adventure sounding the call to fortune. In background, ancient and modern s.h.i.+ps.

Arch of Setting Sun. Statues, frieze, spandrels, parapet, identical with Arch of Rising Sun. Group on top, "The Nations of the West," designed by Calder, executed in collaboration with Lentelli and Roth. American figures grouped around prairie wagon, drawn by two oxen. Above wagon, "Enterprise"; in front, "The Mother of Tomorrow," white boy on one side, colored boy on other; south, a French-Canadian, an Alaskan woman, a Spanish-American, a German; north, an Italian, British-American, squaw, American Indian.

Quotations on Arch of Setting Sun, chosen by Garnett. Panels from left to right, facing court: "In Nature's infinite book of secrecy a little I can read," from "Antony and Cleopatra," by Shakespeare, the English poet;

"Facing west from California's sh.o.r.es, Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,

I, a child, very old, over waves, toward 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. from "Leaves of Gra.s.s," by Walt Whitman the American poet; "Truth, witness of the past, councillor of the present, guide of the future," from "Don Quixote," by Cervantes, the Spanish novelist.

Murals in Arch of the Setting Sun, by Frank Vincent Du Mond of New York.

"Westward March of Civilization," beginning on north and continuing on south wall. Four groups in north panel, from left to right, Emigrants setting out for the west; two workmen and a woman holding child; symbolic figure of the Call to Fortune; types of those who crossed the continent, the driver, the Preacher, the Pioneer, the Judge, the Schoolmistress, the children; youth bidding farewell to parents; in background, New England home and meeting place. South wall: four groups in panel, from left to right; two Spanish-American soldiers and captain with a Spanish priest, suggesting Mission period; symbolical figure "Spirit of Enlightenment"; types of immigrants, the Scientist, the Architect, the Writer Bret Harte, the Sculptor, the Painter William Keith, the Agriculturist, the Laborer, women and children; California welcoming the easterners, figures of California bear, farmer, miner, fruit pickers; orange tree, grain and fruit, symbols of state.

Cla.s.sic groups at head of steps in front of arches leading down into gardens by Paul Mans.h.i.+p, of New York. North side, "The Dancing Girls"; south, "Music and Art."

Star-figure, along upper edge of court, by Calder. Repeated ninety times. Contrast with angel in front of arches.

Lion's head, on cornice below star-figure, repeated around court.

Gilt b.a.l.l.s on the domes of all six pavilions. Represent an ornamental motive borrowed from the Byzantines and often used on synagogues. A feature of St. Mark's. Dr. Jacob Nieto, rabbi of the Temple Israel, of San Francisco, has an interesting theory as to their origin. "The ancients always had the greatest regard for the central star of each of the constellations that made tip the zodiacal signs. No doubt in their method of representation they would symbolize the central stars by a globe, as they also did the sun and the moon, looking upon them all as servants of the earth, and having, possibly, no idea that these other constellations might be separate solar systems."

Frieze on pavilions at corners of court, "Signs of the Zodiac," Atlas and fourteen daughters, seven Pleiades and seven Hyades twelve bearing plaques, by Herman A. MacNeil, of New York. On four sides of each of the six dome-covered pavilions. The third figure from the end on either side represents Electra. Sculptor, in modelling the form, put it on one side and then reversed it on the other side. The daughters of Atlas: only those representing signs of the Zodiac, have s.h.i.+elds. On each s.h.i.+eld is one of the signs of the Zodiac. What the sculptor has designed on the right is reversed on the left, securing absolute symmetry. The figures are finely done and merit special attention.

Lamps around sunken garden. Women; the Canephori, priestesses who carried baskets in ancient Greek religious festivals; men, suggestive of Hermes, used by Romans at ends of roads. Instead of baskets, they all carry jars.

"Fountain of the Rising Still." Ninety-foot column crowned by figure of Rising Sun, by Adolph A. Weinman, of New York. Reliefs at base of column, "Day Triumphant"; Time, Light, Truth, Energy, conquering Falsehood, Vice, and Darkness. Ornamental figures under upper bowl looking down into water, suggest Neptune, but are winged, "Spirit of the Waters."

"Fountain of Setting Sun." Column with figure of Setting Sun, a woman; called also "Descending Night." Reliefs at base of fountain, "Gentle Powers of Night," with Dusk covering Labor, Love, and Peace, followed by the Stars, Luna, Illusions, and Evening Mists.

Tritons in pools of Fountains of Rising and Setting Sun, by Weinman. Two statues; one, triton struggles with snake; in the other, with fish. Two duplicated in each pool.

Sheetlike appearance of water when full force of water is on; streams from figures in pool, overflowing from bowl, spouting from lion heads above frieze.

"The Elements," reclining figures at head of main stairs leading down to sunken gardens by Robert Aitken, of New York. In size and treatment, suggestive of Michael Angelo. Northeast, "Water," riding a wave, with his trident in one hand, sea weed in the other. Northwest, "Fire," a Greek warrior lies in agony, grasping fire and lightning, with Phoenix, bird of flame, at back, and the salamander, reptile of fire, under his right leg. Southeast, "Earth," a woman leaning against a tree, apparently sleeping; at back two human figures struggle to uproot tree, symbol of man's war with nature. Southwest "Air" woman holding star to ear; birds, symbol of air; Icarus, mythological aviator who fell into sea, tied to wings of woman, typifying man's effort to conquer the air.

Small lion fountains below "The Elements," by McKim, Mead & White.

Bandstand, Arabic; picturesque, but inharmonious; obstructs view through entrance court.

Four tigers at base of bandstand, facing pool; decorative.

Court leading from gardens to Column of Progress. Designs repeated in frieze and in jeweled lamps of sh.e.l.l design, McKim, Mead & White; fine detail.

Colonnades on either side of court leading to Marina. Large Roman hanging lamps. Stars in ceilings. Beauty in design, coloring and sweep of corridor.

Frieze around main doorway in colonnades, bird and conventionalized foliage; skilfully designed.

On the Marina

View from Marina: Extreme right, Berkeley and Oakland; in center of bay, Alcatraz Island, like a white citadel; left of Alcatraz, Angel Island; left of Angel Island, Belvedere; left, Marin County, including Sausalito and Mount Tamalpais, with military reservation facing the Golden Gate and looking across to the large military reservation, Presidio.

Column of Progress, celebrating the Progress of Man. Preliminary sketch by Calder. W. Symmes Richardson, architect. Reliefs at base, by Isidore Konti, of New York. Surmounting statue, by Hermon A. MacNeil, of New York.