Part 8 (1/2)

The half-dome here, as there, forms the architectural keystone, and in both buildings, the three niches on either side hold the same alternating figures. While the half dome, with its entire decorative treatment, belongs more fittingly to the Palace of Education, the sculptured figures in the alcoves, by Charles R. Harley, representing alternately ”Abundance” and ”The Triumph of the Fields,” are more in keeping with the Palace of Food Products.

The north face of the Palace of Education, which opens on the Court of the Sunset, connecting Administration Avenue with the Court of the Four Seasons, duplicates the three Spanish doorways of its south facade; and in harmony with these doorways, those on the south wall of the Palace of Food Products, which look out upon the same avenue, are similar in treatment.

Palace of Education The Half Dome of Philosophy

The two magnificent Roman half-domes which give character to the otherwise long and bare wall s.p.a.ce of the western facade are called in the Palace of Food Products ”The Half Dome of Physical Vigor” and in the Palace of Education ”The Half Dome of Philosophy.” In dignity and n.o.bility, due to ma.s.sive size and strength of treatment, in beauty of modeling and restraint of decoration, this effective use of the half-dome is one of the finest architectural achievements on the grounds.

The fine, strong figure by Ralph Stackpole, which surmounts the giant Corinthian columns on either side of the opening is used also at the entrance of the Palace of Food Products and here, as there, it is called ”Youth,” the repeated figure evidently signifying in the mind of the artist the union of intellectual and physical vigor which exemplifies the finest type of manhood. The dome takes its name from the eight times repeated female figure, representing Education, which crowns the Corinthian columns lining its inner curve.

Palace of Education The Fountain in the Portal

The central decorative feature within the half-domes which form the western portals of the Palaces of Education and of Food Products is, in each case, a fountain, architectural in character and of great dignity of line and beauty of modeling; Both were designed by W. B. Faville from old Italian models found in Sienna and Ravenna. Both are circular in form and built up in successive tiers, the one at the entrance to the Palace of Education being the simplest in construction and gaining more in charm and grace from the flow of the water.

The interior treatment of the domes furnishes an effective background for the fountains. The vault of the ceiling is a richly colored conventionalized pattern in orange, pompeiian red and blue. The repeated Corinthian columns lining the curve are of Sienna marble. The doorways between them, with the Moorish grill above the doors, are in green, while back of the lattice work is set stained gla.s.s in deep amber.

Administration Avenue The Fine Arts Laguna

The Baker Street Entrance to the Exposition leads directly into Administration Avenue. The Horticultural Gardens first attract attention by their kaleidoscopic patches of blooming flowers. Then the eye travels on past the Palace of Horticulture to the ma.s.sive bulwark of the Palaces of Education and Food Products in the walls of which two great half-domed portals form the princ.i.p.al points of interest. Across the way lies the Laguna with its reflected image of the Palace of Fine Arts, perhaps the loveliest spot in the Exposition grounds. Plants grow in the pool and the sh.o.r.es are lined with iris, primroses, periwinkles, pampas gra.s.s and, overtopping these, weeping willows mingled with other lovely trees and shrubs.

Towards the end of the Avenue is the small but attractive Hawaiian pavilion. The tower of the California building is silhouetted against the background of the Marin hills. Administration Avenue receives its name from the fact that it leads directly to the administrative headquarters of the Exposition, located in the California building.

Palace of Fine Arts The Rotunda and Laguna

The Palace of Fine Arts has the finest natural setting on the Exposition grounds. Consummate skill in planning the entire architectural ensemble gave it a commanding position, at the extreme west of the group of exhibit palaces. The architect, Bernard. R. Maybeck of San Francisco, found as an a.s.set on beginning his work, a small natural lake and a fine group of Monterey cypress. With this foundation he has created a temple of supreme loveliness, thoroughly original in conception, yet cla.s.sic in its elemental simplicity and in its appeal to the highest and n.o.blest traditions of beauty and art, revealing the imagination of a poet, the fine sense of color and harmony of an artist, and the sure hand of a master-architect in his confident control of architectural forms, of decorative detail and of the contributing landscape elements.

The conception of the rotunda is said to have been suggested to the architect by Becklin's painting ”The Island of the Dead” and that of the peristyle by Gerome's ”Chariot Race.”

Across the Laguna from the Palace of Fine Arts runs Administration Avenue and the magnificent Roman wall which forms the western facade of the main group of palaces.

Palace of Fine Arts The Rotunda and Peristyle

The Palace of Fine Arts is, in reality, not one complete building, but four separate and distinct elements. The rotunda, an octagonal structure, forms the center of the composition. On either side is a detached peristyle which follows the curve of the gallery itself, as it describes an arc about the western sh.o.r.e of the Laguna, yet so successfully are they all bound together by the encircling green wall and by the other landscape elements, that an impression of satisfying unity results.

The architecture, as a whole, is early Roman, with traces of the finer Greek influences. In general treatment, there is a suggestion of the Temple of the Sun at Athens, while much of the detail was inspired by the Choragic monument of Lysicrates, also at Athens.

The rotunda is Roman in conception, Greek in decorative treatment. By its sheer n.o.bility of form and of proportion, and by its enchantment of color and sculptured ornament, it dominates the entire landscape. The high spiritual quality of the architect's conception culminates in the Shrine of Inspiration, directly in front of the rotunda, as seen from across the laguna, where kneels Ralph Stackpole's lovely figure of ”Art Tending the Fires of Inspiration,” exquisite in its simplicity and delicate charm.

Palace of Fine Arts The Peristyle and Laguna

On either side of the central rotunda the peristyle of the Palace of Fine Arts encircles the sh.o.r.e of the laguna in a long semi-circle, formed of a row of Corinthian columns their pale green simulating age-stained marble. At each extremity of the colonnade and at intervals throughout its length are groups of four larger columns, in ochre, each group surmounted by a great box, designed to hold flowers and vines.

Panels simulating pale green, veined marble are inset in these receptacles and at their corners are drooping women's figures by Ulric H. Ellerhusen representing Contemplation. Between the columns, at their bases, are also set receptacles for growing plants.