The prototype of this column is seen in Trajan's Column in the Forum of
Trajan or in the Column of Marcus Aurelius, in Rome.
Architect - Symmes Richardson, one of the junior partners of the firm of
McKim, Meade and White of New York.
The bas-reliefs at the base are by Isadore Konti of New York.
The sum of all human effort is represented. Man's spiritual progress is
seen on the four sides of the base.
Atlas rolling the heavens suggests the passage of time.
Men with their different ideals in the long procession of progress are
seen. Some go manfully on, some fearfully, some feel the need of the
sword to win their way, others find companions necessary, but all of
these men and women must have faith (represented by the two meaningful
women at the door), the hope of the palm of victory, and hear the bugle
call as they go on their upward climb.
They pass before us, these men and women of different aspirations, and
disappear from view.
Up, up they climb.
At the top of the column is Hermon A. McNeil's Burden Bearers,
supporting his Adventurous Bowman.
"All must toil to win" and some must bend their backs that others may
rise. Has it not been so at the Panama Canal?
Have not many done the labor that the United States, the Adventurous
Bowman, may win?
This purposeful type of manhood, with magnificent decision, has just
drawn the bow, and on has sped the arrow of success.
The bowman looks to see it hit the mark.
The man on the right possibly is one of his aids.
The little woman at his side will know by his eyes if the arrow has gone
home, and she will then bestow upon him the laurel wreath and the palm
of victory which she holds in her hand. She stands ready to help him.
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See the group from the sea-wall directly in front of the Column of
Progress for the splendid purpose expressed in the figure and on the
face of the "Adventurous Bowman."
Many San Franciscans would like to have this wonderful group duplicated
in bronze to remain permanently with the city of the Exposition of 1915.
The Court of the Ages
and not The Court of Abundance
Architect - Louis Christian Mullgardt of San Francisco.
Architecture - If one could call this beautiful architecture by name one
might say Spanish Gothic, on account of the round-arched Gothic and also
the Spanish finials used, but it is so thoroughly original that this is
hardly the term to use. It is Romanesque in its vaulting of the
corridor, and at first glance in its great square tower, and arches, and
yet not Romanesque architecture.
It is suggestive of the last period of English Gothic in its rich
parallelism of vertical line - and yet is not that.
It is suggestive of the flamboyant decoration of the French architecture
such as one sees and feels at Rouen Cathedral - and yet, not that, for
on looking closer one sees not wavy line suggesting flame, but the wave
of the kelp of the sea - and then one realizes that the vertical lines
represent falling water.
The kelp is turned, looped and suspended with all sorts of lobsters,
crabs, sea-turtles, octopi, flounders, etc., wriggling thru it, not seen
at first, then in strong evidence, making you wonder why you had not
seen them before.
The whole cloister represents the magical power of water and fire worked
out in travertine, fountains and illuminations.
This court certainly shows the most marked originality in the
architectural line at the Exposition. It is the conception of a man of
rare invention, imagination, and marked poetic feeling. It is surely the
last word in stucco. Everybody loves this Court of the Ages, and
everybody wishes that we could have something permanent like it
somewhere - perhaps in San Francisco. We shall all be loath to part with
in when the two hundred and eighty-eight days are gone.
The arches of perfect proportions are allowed two swinging fairy
lanterns apiece - a soft glow coming from them.
In the corridors are globes which at night look like lambent moonstones,
casting soft light.
Walk down the corridors (not noticing the glorious murals at the ends)
to observe the fine manipulation of color.
Notice that the usual pink of the walls has here a deeper tone - a
terra-cotta warmth added, making a most wonderful combination with the
blue vault above. The arches are of smoked ivory. Your eye catches a
line of cerulean blue at your side, and up you follow the blue, until it
gains its fullest expression in the square area of the groined vaulting.
Notice how bands of smoked ivory play the part of transverse arches. It
is so very beautiful here.
The murals in this corridor are more wonderful than words can tell. They
are by Frank Brangwyn of London, and represent Earth, Air, Water, Fire.
Earth - Two canvases represent the Earth, the teeming, opulent earth
giving of its fullness. Men with great baskets gather the harvests of
vegetables and fruits (especially the luscious grapes in the second
canvas).
Fire - One canvas shows Primitive Fire, where by means of leaves and
twigs the narrow curl of smoke ascends between the trees. Men on bended
knees blow the slowly burning leaves and fan the flame.
The aged draw near to feel the warmth; nearer comes the man with the
little child in his arms - and, as a result, we have a homely woodland
scene of primitive times.
The second representation of the same subject glows on the next canvas.
The subject is Industrial Fire. Men have made a rude furnace in which
the pots are being baked. Pots of all sizes and shapes are being brought
by the men and women of the neighboring region.
The great cloud of blue smoke rises in increasing breadth and height
thru the trees.
Don't fail to notice the wonderful skies in these two canvases.
Water - On a portion of land between two waters men and women have
sauntered down to the water's edge to fill their jars. The flamingoes,
birds of the water, stand in the foreground telling you that water is
near. Plants grow luxuriantly on the banks. Pregnant clouds are blown
nearer and nearer. The canvas is fairly moist with watery suggestions.
It would not be hard to realize when you look at this canvas that it was
done by a man who understands the art of making stained-glass windows.
He cannot keep his secret from you.
The second treatment of Water - Great brawny-armed fishermen are pulling
in their heavy net. In the distance come men with baskets on their heads
to carry away the wriggling fish. Beyond the trees the heavy
moisture-laden clouds come nearer and nearer.
Air - A great windmill such as one sees in Frank Brangwyn's etchings
(for he lived during his youth in the windmill country, making what he
saw around him his own).
The wind has brought the storm-laden clouds and the rain is descending.
The currents of moisture-laden air are reflecting the rainbow. The wheat
of the field bends far forward as the wind blows over it.
The belated harvesters (the foremost with his winnowing sieves) are
blown forcibly along their path.
The many flowers bend their heads under the forward movement of the
breeze. It is most interesting to notice how many devices have been used
in order to make the work as suggestive as possible.
The second treatment of Air. The great trees are most noble in their
strength.
Men, strong like the trees, are shooting thru the air their arrows.
A flock of frightened white birds are cutting the air, showing you why
the men are there. This is a simple but clever treatment of the subject.
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If you would know why you feel that there is something ancestral in
these glorious compositions, why the strong colors are so well combined,
why the canvases breathe freedom of thought and action, why the
distances are so marvelously expressed, why the sky and water are just
that deep wonderful blue, read Sparrow's "Frank Brangwyn" and you will
soon discover, and the appreciation for the pictures will be increased
tenfold.
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Now step down into the Cloister, so that you can see well Helios, the
setting sun. This was the primitive man's idea of the setting sun. He
saw the sun as a man holding a huge golden ball, splashing down into the
waters of the west. The serpent represents the burning sting of the sun.
You are bound to reflect here that the sun has thrown off great nebulous
masses and that one of those masses has cooled and that we now call it
the Earth. Yonder it is, seen at the end of the fountain, with four
streams of water, from prehistoric sea life, playing over it.
Pass along to the first group beyond Helios, realizing that Robt.
Aitken, the sculptor, calls this "The Dawn of Life." From right to left
are these figures:
1. The Hand of Destiny Giving Life.
2. The Prenatal Sleep of Woman.
3. The Awakening.
4. The Joy of Living.
5. The Kiss of Life.
6. The Bringing Forth of Life.
The elemental feelings are here suggested.
You will then notice a gap which stands for the unknown period of
history after the first "Dawn of Life."
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Now pass to Panel 1 (facing Helios).
The central figure is Vanity, one of the compelling motives of that
early life.
Following are two fine figures carrying their children, expressing the
idea of the fecundity of the early races.
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A hermes divides this panel from the next. Since in classic times a
herm, or hermes, was used to mark distances on the roads, so here the
hermes is used to mark distances, or periods in time.
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Panel 2 - We now see the successors of the children of the previous
panel grown to manhood. The fact of Natural Selection inflicts itself
upon man. Two women are attracted to the same male, a fine intellectual
and physical type. The rejected suitors are seen at the end of the
panel, one in anger, the other in despair.
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Panel 3 is called The Survival of the Fittest. This is the suggestion
that physical strength decides who shall survive. We notice that
chieftains struggle to possess the same woman, a woman on the right
endeavoring to separate them.
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Panel 4 is called The Lesson of Life.
Elders of experience attempt to give counsel to the love-lorn and
impetuous, knowing that impulse may sometimes be a poignant foe.
Returning to Panel 1, the two figures at the right represent Lust,
another of the strong forces of the early peoples.
You have now reached your first group beyond the gap.
The first figure is Greed, the third motive in this history of life. He
has been holding onto the material things of life - there they are,
rolled into a great ball. He realizes how futile his life has been and
looks back upon the past, longing to retrace his steps and live to
nobler purpose.
Then comes the old man who has the spiritual understanding, and he knows
that the only hope for his companion is the realization of the
spiritual, the consciousness of immortality, and so he gives to her the
winged beetle, the symbol of renewed life.
The time has now arrived for her to leave her mortal life, and she
passes into that sleep by which her material body is cast aside.
Thereby the man has his first sorrow. She whom he loved is gone, and he
is cast down in despair - because his outlook is not a spiritual one.
The hand of Destiny has drawn these lives unto itself. The law has been
fulfilled.
I have taken the liberty of culling the chief ideas from the article on
the subject, written for the November "International Studio," adding a
few ideas which seem consistent with the work before us.
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This fountain, done in pierced relief, is most decorative in the Court
of the Ages. It is, from a technical standpoint, a most remarkable
composition.
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The next subject for study is The Tower. Notice the small spire atop. It
is like a flêche on a French cathedral and helps in the French feeling
which you had when you thought that you had discovered the flamboyant
style, and yet, on the whole, it is more the style of Spanish towers
than of the French.
Most of the figure work on the tower is by Chester Beach, formerly of
San Francisco.
The groups on the tower are now to be considered.
The combined work is called The Rise of Civilization.
The lowest group is Primitive Man during that period when great
reptiles, like the saurian in the foreground, crept over the earth; when
man fought with huge serpents and gigantic lions.
The rude man in the center has his child on one arm, the other arm
protecting his mate (not an ordinary position for the arm of primitive
man).
You easily surmise that trouble is near. His look of dogged defiance
tells you that he is marching forth to meet some enemy, man or beast.
This is the first march of civilization - one in which brute strength
plays the principal part.
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Just above, you notice that civilization has now reached the mediaeval
stage and you see the Crusader with cross on breast and sword in hand.
He has reached this lofty position thru faith (represented by the
priest) and war (suggested by the rude warrior). The spiritual has now
been added to the physical.
At the side of the tower, holding the same position on the tower as does
the Crusader, are suggestions of the crusader's tomb such as one sees in
many of the English churches. The Crusader passes on and his place is
taken by more advanced types.
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On either side of the Crusader appears the paschal candlestick (which at
night is illuminated).
You are approaching the altar.
Above is the Priestess of Religion, with the nimbus surrounding her
head. At her feet are children holding, one a book, indicating faith,
and the other the wheel, meaning progress.
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Around the court, on the highest pinnacles, are cocks, signifying the
dawn of Christianity (in reference to Peter's denying Christ).
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Come back to the tower and you will notice a man and a woman on either
side of the altar. They are rising from the primitive man and the
primitive woman at their feet. They represent the man and the woman of
today. In the case of the man, you will notice how primitive man holds
on to him and how the man of today endeavors to shake him off. (The man
of today, by the power of thought, is trying to shake the rude brutish
nature off.)
(These figures are by Albert Weinert.)
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Primitive Man and Primitive Woman, by Albert Weinert, are seen as
finials around the court. He is a simple hunter, or a man whose pastime
consists in such amusement as feeding fish to the pelican. She is a
woman whose chief work is to rear children.
Leo Lentelli's Aquatic Maids are grouped at the bases of the columns in
front of the tower. It was at first planned to have the fountains play
to the tops of the columns on which sit the aquatic maids shooting their
arrows into the waters, but a change in the plans left the aquatic maids
high and dry, hence your wonderment at why they sit aloft.
(Leo Lentelli was born in Bologna, Italy, but now lives in New York).
The Italian cypresses, tall and slender, stand like sentinels in front
of the arches.
Orange trees, ten feet in height, heavy with fruit, stand in opulence
before the cypresses.
Balled acacias, with repeated regularity of shape, produce in this
charming cloister a delightful formalism.
Solid beds of pink hyacinths add a glowing touch of color in this
beauteous garden.
The creeping juniper is the border used.
The cistus is the border used around the other beds. Under the trees are
planted calceolarias, gebara, Shasta daisies, potentilla, columbine, and
many other showy flowers.
The conventional standards at the south end of the cloister are aids in
the illumination.
This court is most beautiful at night.
The tower, in white light, has the glowing candlesticks in striking
evidence.
Great clouds of seeming incense rise constantly from the altars ranged
around the court. Fiery serpents belch fire into the basins below.
Beneath the world and around it rises the steam, which is marvelously
illuminated.
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