The two Palaces of the Fine Arts and the Liberal Arts are of equal
dimensions and similar aspect. They cover an area of 21,000 square
metres. They are composed of a large central nave, measuring 209.31
metres in length by a width of fifty-three metres and one-half. The nave
is surrounded with galleries on the lower floor and first story. On the
garden under the porticos are restaurants. Each of these palaces is
connected with the Industrial section of the foreign countries by a
large vestibule thirty metres wide by 115 in length, one of which, that
of the Fine Arts, contains the exhibition of sculpture, and the other
contains a large part of the musical instruments. These two palaces are
entirely of iron, terra-cotta and ceramic work. The entrance is executed
by a large porch of three arches, and the wings on either side are
pierced by wide bays. Each is crowned with a dome fifty-five metres high
and thirty-two in width. These two palaces are striking examples of the
richness which can be introduced in a moment by the artistic employment
of terra-cotta and ceramic work, especially when the ceramic artists
bear such names as Müller, Loebnitz and Parvillée, to say nothing of MM.
Bréult, Boulanger and Mortreux, whose work we met in the ceramic
division, or which we shall meet in our walks through the foreign
pavilions. With M. Müller, who has given his name to a kind of brick
covered with enamel on one of its faces, ceramic work becomes a portion
of the very fabric itself as well as of its ornamentation. This
principle applied with rare talent to the covering of the two domes of
the palaces has given a very curious and interesting result. This
covering is composed of enamelled tiles of more than 600 varieties which
are not superposed one upon another, but butt together side by side, and
form a mosaic rather than a covering of tiles. Each dome contains about
50,000 pieces arranged in ninety rows and twelve divisions. The general
tone is blue. The principal ornamental motive consists of a cartouche
which bears in the centre two large letters "R.F." in gold. The
cartouche stands out on a background of cream-white, bordered with a
meander. The effect is very brilliant and chatoyant. At the base of each
dome twenty-four vases in pottery, three metres high, are arranged on
the consoles of the attic which supports the roof, and in which are
pierced bull's-eyes decorated in tones of blue and natural terra-cotta.
The domes of the pavilions at the angle of the palace on the side of the
Seine are in the same way covered with enamelled porcelain tiles. This
is a new product invented by M. Parvillée and has a great decorative
richness. Above each bay of the two palaces is repeated a terra-cotta
frieze two metres high, which bears children holding cartouches and
standing out from a golden background. Pillars between the bays are
encased in terra-cotta fluted panels with interlacements of laurel and
oak leaves. The ironwork of these pillars is exposed and encloses the
terra-cotta work like a Spanish net, with very original effect and very
interesting constructive frankness. Finally, the balustrade crowning
each palace is also of terra-cotta, and is formed of small pilasters and
between them is repeated a _motif_ of bucklers bearing lions' heads. The
balustrade is composed of 7,500 pieces and weighs 450,000 kilogrammes,
and covers a space of 2,000 square metres.
Independently of the exhibit indicated by its name and character, the
Palace of the Liberal Arts encloses one of the great curiosities of the
Exhibition of '89; that is the "retrospective history of labor and
anthropologic science." "The aim of this exhibit," said M. Jules Simon,
in a report which he made as the president of the Superior Commission,
June 15, 1888, "is to instruct the public in the history of the
processes of manual and mechanical labor, which in the passage of
centuries have resulted in the modern industrial utensils used in the
arts and trades." This exhibit has a particularly historical and
technical character. It is far from excluding objects of art, for in
several ages the utensils, those especially which were used in the
liberal arts, were veritable jewels, either from their elegance of form,
or from the richness of their material, or the grace of their details.
We find chefs-d'oeuvre, for instance on a geographical map, on the
handle of a chisel, on the barrel of a musket. Our ancestors were not
possessed with the same passion for speed and cheapness that possesses
us. Industry lost, perhaps, but the arts were the gainers. The aim of
the retrospective exhibition is well defined. It is to retrace with
broad strokes by means of the reproductions of diagrams and authentic
monuments the stages of human genius. To achieve this result it was
necessary to associate with the retrospective exhibition of labor that
of anthropologic science, in order to show in the outset what man was
when he left the hands of nature in the different physical forms of
different races. The exhibit of anthropological science and history of
labor comprises then five grand divisions--first, anthropologic and
ethnographic science; second, the liberal arts; third, arts and trades;
fourth, means of transportation; fifth, military arts.
The central nave of the Palace of the Liberal Arts is wholly occupied by
this exhibit. Grand porticos and galleries of woodwork with platforms in
the lower story, form four grand divisions with interior courts that
approach by monumental staircases opening under the dome upon each side
of the rotunda, which occupies the centre and shelters the theatrical
exhibit. All around the porticos and galleries full panels were reserved
upon which M. Charles Touché placed decorative compositions broadly
treated in aquarelle illustrating, so to say, the history of labor.
* * * * *
AN INGENIOUS PLAN FOR STRAIGHTENING WALLS.--Yankees, as a rule, are
equal to any emergency; what the average Yankee mechanic fails to
conjure up at a time when his wits are most needed, leaves very little
room for foreign genius to think and work in. Yet it remained for M.
Molard, a French architect, to contrive an original and ingenious plan
for straightening the walls of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers,
which threatened an absolute collapse owing to the extreme weight of the
roof. A series of strong iron bars were carried across the building from
wall to wall, passing through holes in the walls, and were secured by
nuts on the outside. In this state they would have been sufficient to
have prevented the further separation of the walls by the weight of the
roof, but it was desirable to restore the walls to their original state
by drawing them together. This was effected in the following manner:
Alternate bars were heated by lamps fixed beneath them. They expanded,
and consequently the nuts, which were previously in contact with the
walls, were no longer so. The nuts were then screwed up so as to be
again in close contact with the walls. The lamps were withdrawn and the
bars allowed to cool. In cooling they gradually contracted and resumed
their former dimensions; consequently the nuts, pressing against the
walls, drew them together through a space equal to that through which
they had been screwed up. Meanwhile the intermediate bars were heated
and expanded, and the nuts screwed up as before. The lamps being again
withdrawn, they contracted in cooling, and the walls were further drawn
together. This process was continually repeated, until at length the
walls were restored to their perpendicular position. The gallery may
still be seen with the bars extending across it, and binding together
its walls.--_Philadelphia Record and Guide_.